Return to Paws
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: Fluid Man returns to the magical Land of Paws, and finds it in complete disarray, and he, and a new band of friends must save Paws from the evil Nome King. Sequel to my earlier story, The Wizard of Paws.
1. Only a Dream

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, if you all know me by now, then you won't be surprised that this is the sequel to my fanfic, "The Wizard of Paws." This one is based on the Disney 1985 movie, "Return to Oz" (hence the title). All characters belong to Hanna-Barbera. Phyllis Dawson, Dr. Isaac Phelps, Dr. Lorry, and other incidental characters belong to me. Also, Big D and Fluid Man's grandfather/grandson relationship is something I made up and should *not* be confused with canon._

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><p>Dorothy exited her fallen house with Toto in her arms. Cautiously, she stepped into what looked like a beautiful garden, full of color. There were several small houses all over, and large flowers of every color of the rainbow. In the center of this strange land was a fountain, surrounded by a red and yellow swirled road.<p>

"Toto," she said. "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

"Are you watching that tape _again_?" a voice asked, suddenly.

Slightly startled, Fluey jumped, immediately paused his sister's tape of _The Wizard of Oz,_ and looked up. Big D was standing behind the couch in the den, where Fluey was laying, watching the video, and he didn't look too happy.

"Oh," Fluey said. "Hi, chief."

"What's the matter, can't sleep?" Big D asked.

Fluey just shook his head. Big D sighed. He knew it was normal for Fluey to get up in the middle of the night, go downstairs to the den, and watch _The Late Night Fright Fest Double Feature with Count Wolfgang Amadoggus_ (or _Fright Fest_ as it was generally called by viewers), which started at midnight, and ended around four in the morning. But usually, Fluey would fall asleep during the second picture, which was anywhere between two thirty and three in the morning.

"Fluid, it's four thirty in the morning," Big D groaned. "And every night, you've been watching that _Wizard of Oz_ tape of your sister's. You're going to wear it out if you keep watching it like that."

"I'm sorry, chief," Fluey said, sighing. "I wish I could just go to sleep, but I can't. I can't stop thinking about Paws."

"Not _that_ again. Fluid, how many times must I tell you, that so-called trip of yours to this . . . . . this nonsensical land was only a dream?"

"But chief, I'm _pos_itive it . . . . ."

"Get upstairs right now, and at least _try_ to get some sleep. And stop all that nonsense about this land of Paws or whatever you call it. You and I both know it was nothing more than a dream."

Fluey sighed, turned off the TV and VCR, and did as his grandfather requested. Big D followed. They walked into Fluey's room, and Fluey climbed into bed, while Big D sat down on the edge of it.

"I'm worried about you," Big D said, cupping his grandson's cheek in his hand. "You've had this case of insomnia for weeks now."

"I know," Fluey said. "I wish I could just go to sleep, I really do."

"Well, just try to, all right? You need your sleep. How are you expected to fight crime if you don't get adequate rest?"

"Right, chief."

Big D patted his grandson's shoulder, and then left the room. He got back to his own room, sat down on the bed, and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He heard a knock on the door, and looked up. He saw his granddaughter, and secretary, Phyllis, standing there.

"Any luck getting Fluey to sleep?" she asked.

"None," Big D sighed. He knew Phyllis was awake because she was just as worried about her brother as the chief was. "I don't know why all of a sudden he's acting like this. That trip he took with the other two Impossibles and Multi's girlfriend to Jellystone Park was a long time ago, _before_ we found out he was my grandson. I just don't understand it."

"I don't either," Phyllis said, sitting down next to the chief. "Every single night for weeks, he's been watching _The Wizard of Oz_ for no reason, and I just _know_ he's imagining himself in that movie. All he talks about is this land of Paws, where he met a Scarecrow that looked like Yogi Bear, and a dog made out blue tin that looked like Huckleberry Hound, and a cowardly lion that looked like Snagglepuss, magical sapphire boots . . . . . and he said he made the trip with Yogi's friend, Boo-Boo, and not even Boo-Boo believed him about it!"

"It might be something psychological. I know Dr. Phelps isn't a psychiatrist, but maybe he'll be able to at least shed _some_ light on Fluid's insomnia. I just don't know what to do anymore."

Phyllis nodded and sighed. It was about all she could do. Unknown to her, or the chief, Fluey had heard them talking, and sighed. He couldn't help thinking about his trip to the land of Paws. It _was_ awhile ago, and he hadn't thought about it since he went, but for some reason, he began thinking about it again, and he didn't know why. Everyone thought it was just a crazy dream induced by a bump on the head he got when a tornado whipped through Jellystone Park, knocked out a window, and clobbered him in the back of the head. He had been knocked unconscious, and then swept up into the tornado, along with Boo-Boo Bear, Yogi Bear's best friend. They had been on board the SS Jelly Roger, which Yogi, Boo-Boo, and their friends used to go treasure hunting with, and crash-landed in the land of Paws. They had returned via a pair of magical sapphire boots Fluey had gotten after landing in Paws. Though Fluey had no idea what happened to those boots after he woke up, and found himself back in Jellystone Park. Not one single person, not even Boo-Boo, believed him about the trip.

Truthfully, Fluey didn't want to believe it was all just some crazy dream. He had some doozies in his lifetime, that was for sure, but he was positive his visit to Paws really _did_ happen.

Around nine in the morning, Fluey found himself sitting on the examination table in Dr. Phelps's office, for a full physical.

"The chief tells me you're not getting any sleep lately," Dr. Phelps said, shining his pen light into one of Fluey's eyes.

"Yeah, this insomnia is a real pain," Fluey said.

"He also told me every night, you get up and watch _The Wizard of Oz._ I find that a bit weird, considering you told me something like that happened to you awhile back. And Yogi Bear was the Scarecrow, and all that?"

"You don't believe me either, do you, doc?"

"Not particularly."

"Figures."

While Dr. Phelps was giving Fluey the full physical, Big D was going through some files on his desk, shuffling papers back and forth. As he was doing this, a newspaper clipping that pertained to a case a couple of the agents were working on fell out of one of the folders. Big D picked it up, and noticed something on the other side of it. As he was looking at the clipping, the intercom on his desk began crackling, breaking him out of his thought.

"Chief?" Phyllis's voice asked.

"Yes?" Big D said, pushing the talk button.

"Dr. Phelps is here to see you."

"Send him in."

"Hi, chief," Dr. Phelps said, coming into the office. "You said you wanted to see me as soon as I got the results from Fluey's physical."

"I did," Big D said, putting the newspaper clipping down for a moment. "What's the verdict?"

"Well, he's in perfect physical health. There's nothing wrong with him. Physically speaking, that is. I think the his insomnia is mental related, but I'm not exactly sure how to handle it. I'm not a psychiatrist."

"And we don't have a psychiatrist on the premises."

"I don't know what else I can tell you, Big D. You may have to take him to a mental health expert."

Big D nodded. It was about all he could do.

Big D and Phyllis weren't the only ones worried about Fluey, however. Multi and Coiley were, as well. The boys were rehearsing a new band number, but Fluey wasn't really concentrating on it.

"Fluey, come on," Coiley groaned. "You can't _still_ be thinking about that whole Wizard of Paws thing!"

"Sorry, fellas," Fluey said, sighing. "I don't mean it, but . . . . . well . . . . I just can't seem to _stop_ thinking about it. I know you don't believe me, but I'm sure it really _does_ exist."

"If it really existed, and you and Boo-Boo really _did_ go there," Multi said, "then Boo-Boo would remember it as well. And he said when that window hit you in the back in the head, he went to find Ranger Smith."

"Well, it's obvious we're not going to get anything done today," Coiley sighed. "Big D took us off active duty because of your insomnia, Fluey, and all this Paws talk is starting to drive me crazy!"

"Me too," Multi agreed.

"Sorry, fellas," Fluey said, shrugging, and then started tuning his guitar. It was about all he could do.


	2. The Key

Things weren't much better later that evening. Things were pretty quiet at dinner. Fluey mainly picked at his food. Finally, Big D cleared his throat, and took the newspaper clipping out of his pocket.

"Fluid," he said. "I have given this insomnia issue a lot of thought. I was going through the case files today, and I ran across this on the back of an article that pertains to one of the agency's cases."

Big D handed Fluey the newspaper clipping, and Fluey read through it. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw what it was.

"You're kidding, right?" Fluey asked. "This is a joke, right?"

"It is not," Big D said. "I never kid. You know that."

"But . . . . . but . . . ." Fluey stammered. "Chief, you can't _do_ this to me! I'm _not_ insane! You know they only do this to treat people who are insane!"

"What is that, anyway?" Phyllis asked, taking the newspaper clipping. She saw it and gasped.

"E_lec_trotherapy?" she shouted. "Big D, are you out of your mind?"

"No," Big D said. "Dr. Phelps stated that we may need to seek professional psychiatric help in this matter."

"Psychiatric help is one thing, chief," Phyllis said. "Shock therapy is another. I agree Fluey might need psychological help, but this might be too much!"

"I never said I'd allow them to use electrotherapy on him," Big D said. "I just want to have him evaluated. There's a difference, you know. Tomorrow, Fluid, I'm taking you to this clinic to see what the doctors there say."

"And to fry my brain to a crisp," Fluey said. "Sheesh. I can't believe you'd send me to some psych ward and let some stranger barbecue my brain cells."

"The subject is closed," Big D said. "You're going, and that's that. I'm doing this for your own good, young man. You haven't slept in weeks. If you don't sleep, you can't focus, and if you can't focus, you can't fight crime. I don't want to send you boys out when you can't concentrate on what you're doing, Fluid. In this business, you have to keep on your toes at all times. Never let your guard down. And, as I stated, I'm not necessarily going to have them perform the electrotherapy on you."

Fluey sat back down and said nothing. Late that night, he was, as he had been for the past couple of weeks, lying awake in bed, staring out his window. As he was staring, he saw something shoot across the sky, and it looked awful close to the house.

"Wild, man," he said. "A shooting star. And it looked like it landed in the backyard!"

Fluey was about to get out of bed to check it out, when the door opened. Big D stood there, and sighed.

"I had a feeling you'd still be up," he said. "Going downstairs to watch that tape again?"

"No, chief," Fluey said, getting back into bed. He decided not to tell him he thought a shooting star landed in the backyard. "Seriously, Big D, I don't mean to keep you up. I mean, I'm the one with insomnia, not you. Just because I can't sleep doesn't mean you have to suffer, too."

"I realize that," Big D said, and he began stroking his grandson's hair. "But I can't help it. I'm worried about you, and worrying about you keeps me awake."

"It's a parent thing, Fluey," Phyllis said, walking in. "That's why we're both still up."

"Geez, I'm starting to feel like I'm nothing but a burden to both of you," Fluey said. "Really, you guys . . . . . I really wish I could just go to sleep. I've tried everything I could think of!"

"Have you tried counting sheep?" Phyllis suggested.

"One thousand three hundred twenty-six of 'em," Fluey sighed. "And still counting."

"Well, hopefully, that will all change tomorrow," Big D said, patting Fluey's shoulder. And with that, he and Phyllis left the room, and Fluey tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, Fluey was out in the backyard, searching for where he thought the shooting star had landed. Finally, he found something out of the ordinary. He picked it up out of the dirt and began cleaning it off a little. It was a shiny brass key, though it looked like it was an antique, or maybe a skeleton key. It had a large hexagon shaped bow (that's the part of the key you hold when you turn it for those who don't know), and it looked like there was a gem imbedded into it. Upon cleaning it off a little more, Fluey realized that the gem imbedded in the key was an amethyst shaped like a paw print.

"A paw print shaped amethyst . . . . ." he said, thoughtfully. "Holy Mesopotamia! A purple paw print is the symbol of the Amethyst City! This key _must_ have come from Paws!"

Immediately, Fluey got up, and raced into the house, practically slamming the door behind him.

"Chief!" he yelled, racing into Big D's study. "Chief, look what I found in the backyard! It's a key from Paws! I'm sure of it! Look at the jewel on it! It's the symbol of Paws, a purple paw print!"

"Fluid . . . . ." Big D said, heaving a frustrated sigh. He didn't even bother to look at the key.

"I'm serious, Big D!" Fluey shouted. "My friends from Paws must have sent it to me last night on a shooting star!"

"Fluid," Big D said again. "Stop it. I've told you before, it's all in your imagination. This Land of Paws or whatever you may call it, doesn't exist."

"But Big D . . . . ."

"I know you don't want to go to the clinic, but you haven't slept for weeks, and neither has your sister, and neither have I, because we're up all night worrying about you . . . . ."

"Chief, I'm telling you, it really _does_ . . . ."

"Fluid, that's enough! I don't want to hear it! I'm tired of this nonsense! Now until we get to the clinic, I don't want to hear another word about this place, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir."

And with that, Fluey turned and started walking out the door. Big D sighed, stood up, caught up to Fluey before he left the room, and put his hands on his grandson's shoulders.

"I don't mean to snap at you," he said. "I just don't know what to _do_ with you anymore. Your problem may be psychological, and the unfortunate thing is none of us knows anything about psychology. You _do_ understand that all I want to do is help you, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know," Fluey said, sighing. He decided to give up on this. There was no convincing Big D that Paws, or that key, existed.

Moments later, Big D and Fluey were heading out to the chief's car. Multi and Coiley were driving up in the Impossi-Mobile at the time.

"Hey, Fluey, what's going on?" Multi asked.

"Nothing much," Fluey shrugged. "The chief's just going to have my brain cells barbecued, that's all."

"What?" Coiley asked, looking at Big D.

"I am _not_ having his brain cells barbecued," Big D said, sounding frustrated. "I'm simply taking him to a psychiatrist to get to the bottom of this insomnia. Dr. Phelps thinks it might some sort of a psychological problem."

"Yeah, but the shrink the chief's taking him to specializes in electrotherapy," Phyllis said.

"Chief, are you serious?" Multi asked, looking a little surprised.

"I'm at my wits end, boys," Big D said, shrugging. "It's about all I can do right now."

"Well, don't worry about it, Fluey," Coiley said. "Just because the doctor you're going to specializes in it doesn't automatically mean they're gonna use it on you."

"Thanks, Coiley," Fluey said, sarcastically as he climbed into the car. "That makes me feel a _whole_ lot better."

"I still can't believe you're going to go through with this," Phyllis said. Big D cleared his throat, and motioned for Phyllis to follow him. He wanted to be far enough away so the boys wouldn't hear him.

"He's still insisting on that nonsensical world still exists," he said. "Now he's claiming his friends from the Land of Paws, or whatever it is, sent him a key on a shooting star. He's talking crazy. I'm sure there's no harm in just a _little_ shock therapy, if it comes to that."

"What about the fact that water and electricity don't mix?"

"He can only go into his liquid state if he's in his superhero form. I plan to hold onto his transformer once we get to the clinic."

"I think lack of sleep is impairing your judgement, Big D. I mean, I want Fluey to get a good night's sleep just as much as the rest of you, but I honestly don't think any good will come from this."

"I'm afraid my mind is made up. Hopefully we _won't_ have to administer shock therapy, but I intend to cross that bridge when we come to it."

And with that, Big D walked back to his car, climbed in, and started it up. Phyllis just groaned, and went back into the house. Multi and Coiley followed, still a bit shocked that Big D was going to go through with this as well.

"I can't believe Big D's actually going to let some stranger hook Fluey up to electrodes and shock it to him," Multi said.

"Maybe the lack of sleep is getting to him," Coiley said. "Fluey told us that you and the chief have been up all night for weeks, too, Phyllis."

"We're just worried," Phyllis shrugged. "And worrying about Fluey keeps us up all night. I can only hope that Big D knows what he's doing."


	3. Shocked Therapy

Throughout the entire drive to the clinic, Fluey kept staring out the window, thoughtfully, and fiddling with the key he had found. Big D kept glancing over at him every now and again.

"You're awfully quiet over there," he said.

"Yeah, well, you don't want to hear it until we get to the clinic, remember?" Fluey said.

Big D sighed. It was about all he could do. Fluey continued looking out the window. He didn't notice how far out this clinic was until he noticed they were passing a farm. He saw a little red hen walking around a chicken coop, pecking and scratching. The hen suddenly looked up and stared at the passing vehicle, and for a minute, Fluey thought it was looking right at him.

Hours passed until they reached the clinic, which was a large Victorian style mansion. Fluey noticed they were going awfully far into the woods.

"How come this place is out in the middle of nowhere?" he asked.

"I don't know," Big D said, as he parked the car. "Come on."

Fluey sighed, and reluctantly got out of the car.

"Hey, chief, I just had a thought," he said. "You know water and electricity aren't a good combination, right?"

"Precisely why I've decided to hold on to your transformer," Big D said, holding his hand out. Fluey rolled his eyes and surrendered it. Then, the two of them went inside the converted mansion. They were met by a woman with dark hair pulled up into a bun, and wearing a white lab coat. Fluey noticed she didn't look all that friendly.

"Good afternoon," the woman said. "I'm Dr. Stella Lorry. And I assume you're Mr. Dawson, and Franklin, correct?"

"Yes," Big D said, nodding. "I hope you can get to the heart of the matter of my grandson's insomnia, Dr. Lorry, because I am completely baffled over it."

"Step into my office and let's see what we can do."

Big D and Fluey followed Dr. Lorry into her office and sat down.

"Now then," Dr. Lorry said. "Shall we start from the very beginning, Franklin?"

"Well . . . ." Fluey said.

"Go on," Big D said. "Tell her about that so-called trip of yours."

"Okay," Fluey sighed, grudgingly. "See, it started when my friends and I went to Jellystone Park for a vacation."

Fluey then went on to explain the entire story of the Land of Paws to Dr. Lorry. He even handed her the key he had found for her to look at.

"Tell me how you got back from . . . . Paws, you said it was called?" Dr. Lorry asked.

"Yeah," Fluey said. "See, I had these boots . . . . sapphire boots. Like the ruby slippers in _The Wizard of Oz_, only these boots were blue. Anyway, you click the heels together and say there's no place like home."

"I see," Dr. Lorry said. "And where are those boots now, Franklin?"

"I don't know," Fluey said, shrugging. "When I woke up in Jellystone, they were gone."

"I see," Dr. Lorry said. She stood up, and gave Fluey back the key. Then she looked over at the chief. "Well, Mr. Dawson. What we have here is a young man who appears to be delusional, if he's insisting an obvious fantasy land exists. I think I have just the thing to rectify this problem."

Dr. Lorry then left the room for a moment, and wheeled a strange looking contraption into the room. Fluey looked at it oddly. He just knew it was some kind of electrical generator, and Dr. Lorry was intending on using it to barbecue his braincells.

"This machine will get rid of those bad waking dreams, and make it possible for you to go to sleep again, Franklin," she said.

"Permanently," Fluey mumbled.

"Franklin . . . . ." Big D said, in a warning tone.

"Chief, she's gonna barbecue my braincells!" Fluey shouted.

"Franklin, you have absolutely nothing to be afraid of," Dr. Lorry said. "I admit, electrotherapy has been given a bad reputation, but advances in technology have made it possible to heal a person electrically with little to no serious side effects."

"Is this going to hurt?" Fluey asked.

"No, no, no," Dr. Lorry said. "All this does is manage electrical current. You see, Franklin, the brain itself is an electrical machine. Now, when the brain malfunctions, say due to a blow to the head, it produces useless excess currents, and these currents are dreams and delusions."

Fluey was no longer paying attention to what Dr. Lorry was saying. He was staring at that horrible contraption she wanted to hook him up to. He was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach about it. Suddenly, he saw something in the machine's casing. A reflection of sorts, but it wasn't his own reflection. It looked like Phyllis. Fluey turned, and saw what appeared to be his sister on the other side of a mirror, except she was wearing a pale lavender short-sleeved dress. Fluey was a little confused, because he thought Phyllis had stayed back home.

"Now we have the means to control these excess currents," Dr. Lorry said.

"Are you listening, Franklin?" Big D asked.

"Uhhh . . . . yeah," Fluey said. "Right, excess currents. Yeah, sure."

"Maybe you would feel more comfortable with the procedure if your grandfather stay here," Dr. Lorry suggested. "To give you a little more sense of familiarity. As a matter of fact, he can even perform the procedure."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, doctor," Big D said. "I don't think it would be wise to have someone who doesn't know what they're doing to operate a machine such as this one."

"It's very simple to operate, Mr. Dawson," Dr. Lorry said. "A five-year-old could do it. I can show you how to work it while Franklin rests up a little in his room. If you come with me, please, Franklin . . . ."

And with that, Dr. Lorry led Fluey out of her office, and down a long hallway. Fluey could hear squeaky wheels coming from down another corridor, and turned to look. He saw an orderly or something, wheeling an empty gurney down the halls, and the wheels on it were squeaking something terrible. Fluey bit his lower lip, and watched him, wondering where he was going with that thing. Dr. Lorry then unlocked a door at the end of another corridor, and led Fluey into a small room. There was an old, metal hospital bed, a window, and a dresser with an empty mirror. Fluey figured they probably took the glass out of it so patients who were _really_ whacked out wouldn't break the mirror and hurt themselves with the glass.

"Now then," Dr. Lorry said. "I'll leave you to get settled, and then I'll come and get you when I'm ready for you. Why don't you lie down and take a nap or something?"

"How can I take a nap when I'm suffering from insomnia?" Fluey asked.

Dr. Lorry said nothing, and left the room, locking the door behind her. Fluey rolled his eyes, and sat down on the bed.

"No sense of humor whatsoever," he sighed. "I hate doctors who can't take a joke."

Fluey sighed, and laid down on the bed, trying to ignore the squeaking bed springs, and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what in the world Big D was _think_ing, going through with this. As he was staring, he heard raindrops against the roof of the clinic, and a low rumble of thunder. Then, he thought he heard an agonizing scream from down the hallway. He sat up, and went to the door, before he remembered it was locked. But he could still hear screaming.

After a couple of hours, Fluey got up, and began pacing the room. It was about all he could do, other than listen to the storm going on outside. It seemed to be a pretty big one, too. Thunder crashed like canons being fired, and lightning lit up the sky. As Fluey contemplated his situation, he heard squeaky wheels from down the hallway, someone unlocking the door, and opening it. He turned and saw Dr. Lorry, along with two orderlies pushing one of those squeaky-wheeled gurneys.

"We're ready for you, Franklin," Dr. Lorry said.

"Maybe you aren't, but I'm not!" Fluey shouted. But he got up, anyway, and walked toward the hallway.

"Just relax," Dr. Lorry said, as the two orderlies lifted Fluey onto the gurney, and strapped him down. "It will all be over soon."

"What's with the straps?" Fluey asked. "Afraid I'll try to make a break for it in the middle of the procedure?"

"They're so you don't fall off the gurney," Dr. Lorry said.

"I don't know," Fluey said. "I don't like the way this is going, doc. I heard some screaming earlier, and . . . ."

"Don't be ridiculous," Dr. Lorry said. "You didn't hear a thing. It was just your imagination, I'm sure."

Fluey heaved a sigh, and the orderlies began pushing the gurney down the hallway with Dr. Lorry behind them. The squeaky wheels and the rumbling thunder made the whole thing seem more creepy. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway, and Dr. Lorry opened the doors to what appeared to be an operating room. Big D and that contraption were already there.

"Chief . . . ." Fluey said, nervously. "You're . . . . you're not _really_ going to go through with this . . . ."

"We are," Big D said. "Dr. Lorry showed me everything. There is absolutely _nothing_ to worry about. She ran some tests, and we are not going to set the machine at full power."

"That's right, Franklin," Dr. Lorry said, handing Big D what looked like a pair of headphones. "When we're ready, we'll just put these over your ears, and they'll draw all those unpleasant dreams out of your head, and when you wake up, you'll never be bothered by them again."

"_If_ I wake up," Fluey mumbled.

"That will be quite enough of _that_, young man," Big D said, giving his grandson a look. "It won't be as bad as you think."

"I think Phyllis was right," Fluey went on. "I think the lack of sleep is starting to impair your judgement, chief."

Big D said nothing, and tested out the "headphones" or whatever they were, as Dr. Lorry began setting her machine. She turned a switch, and Fluey could hear buzzing sounds emitting from those "headphones."

"Chiiieeeeef . . . . please, _please_ don't make me go through with this!" Fluey practically whined.

"I assure you, everything is going to be _fine_," Big D said, brushing Fluey's bangs away from his face. Having someone stroke his hair usually calmed Fluey, but this time, it did little to set his mind at ease.

"Would you mind checking the circuit breakers for me, Mr. Dawson?" Dr. Lorry asked. "We wouldn't want to blow a fuse now, would we? I need to adjust the settings on the machine before we begin."

Big D left the room for a moment without saying a word. The orderlies followed. Fluey bit his lower lip, nervously.

"Everything will be all right, Franklin," Dr. Lorry said. "When this is all over, you'll never be bothered by those bad dreams ever again."

Fluey then looked toward Dr. Lorry, though he couldn't see what she was doing very well. He wasn't positive on this, but it appeared that Dr. Lorry was fiddling with the controls of the machine. It looked like she was turning up the juice. She tested the "headphones" again, and Fluey could hear the electricity buzzing through them, much louder than they had before. Then she turned the machine off, and put the headphones over Fluey's ears. By that time, Big D came back into the room.

"Your circuit breakers seem fine to me," he said.

"Oh good," Dr. Lorry said. "Because we're just about ready."

"I'm not sure why you're insisting I be the one to start this machine, doctor," Big D went on.

"I like to get the family involved with the procedures," Dr. Lorry said. "It makes the more apprehensive patients feel a little more at ease."

"It's not working!" Fluey shouted. "Please, chief! Can't we just go home? I'll never mention Paws again, I promise!"

"Do you think it's possible to sedate him?" Big D asked. "Knock him out so he doesn't feel anything? I'm starting to have reservations about this whole thing myself."

"Mr. Dawson, there is nothing to be concerned about," Dr. Lorry said. "The controls are set where they need to be, and all you have to do is pull the switch. And no, we can't sedate him. We may not get the results we want if he is unconscious during the procedure. Now, shall we flip the switch?"

Fluey threw Big D a pleading look. Big D brushed Fluey's bangs out of his face for a moment, and went for the switch, taking a deep breath as he got ready to pull it. Fluey squeezed his eyes shut, and waited for the jolt. He had a feeling this was going to hurt, big time. He heard a crash of thunder, and, even with his eyes squeezed shut, could tell something had flashed, and then, everything went dark. "Oh darn it!" Dr. Lorry shouted. "A power failure!"

"_That's_ a relief!" Fluey shouted, heaving a sigh that could have been heard in China.

"I'm going to check on the back up generators," Dr. Lorry said, and she and her orderlies left the room.

Almost immediately, Fluey heard those agonizing screams once more.

"Chief, did you hear that?" he asked.

"I did," Big D said, nodding. "I'm going to look into this."

And with that, Big D left, leaving Fluey strapped to the gurney. He tried getting loose, but he was strapped down too tightly.

"Sheesh, the least they could've done was to unstrap me!" he shouted.

Thunder and lightning continued to crash and flash outside. All Fluey could do was listen to it. Suddenly, someone ran into the room, and began unstrapping him. When lightning flashed again, Fluey saw it was Phyllis.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, confused. "I thought you stayed home."

"Hurry!" Phyllis shouted, as she loosened the last strap. "We've got to get you out of here! The doctor is keeping damaged patients in the basement!"

"Damaged patients?" Fluey asked, as he climbed off the gurney. "What do you mean?"

"There's no time to explain! We have to leave now!"

And with that, Phyllis grabbed Fluey's hand, and the two of them dashed down the hall. The lightning lit up the halls so they were able to see where they were going. But they didn't get very far before a flash of lightning lit up the room, and there was Dr. Lorry standing there.

"Stop!" she shouted.

"Run, Fluey, run!" Phyllis shouted.

Fluey ran as fast as he could, following Phyllis, and wondering why she called him by his code name. She knew never to call him by his code name in public. Coiley's little sister often forgot that, but Phyllis _always_ called him "Franky" in front of someone who didn't know about the boys' double lives. He decided not to dwell on that. He just followed his sister out the front door. Dr. Lorry chased after them as fast as she could.

"Come back here, you little . . . ." she started.

Phyllis was practically dragging her brother by his hand, as they ran into the woods through the wind, the heavy rain, and the thunder and lightning.

"Faster, Fluey, _faster_!" she screamed to be heard over the storm.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Fluey shouted back.

The two siblings kept right on running, until Phyllis slipped on a patch of mud, and slid down an incline, taking Fluey with her. Both of them screamed as they plunged into a rapid moving river.

"Holy Mesopotamia, a flash flood!" Fluey shouted.

"Stop!" Dr. Lorry cried out as she reached the river bank. "Come back here!"

The siblings grabbed hold of a nearby branch, but unfortunately, it snapped, and the siblings were swept into the current of the flood waters, and away from Dr. Lorry. Fluey grabbed onto a barn door floating nearby, and climbed onto it.

"Phyllis!" he shouted. "Grab on to this! We can use it for a raft!"

Phyllis grabbed the barn door, and climbed on. Unfortunately, it wouldn't support both of them, and it sank almost immediately. Both siblings were swept underneath the water for a moment or so. Fluey came back up and gasped for air, grabbing onto part of a chicken coop, using it as a floatation device.

"Phyllis!" he called out. "Hey sis, where are you? Phyllis!"

Fluey looked around frantically, but he couldn't find his sister anywhere, and he was being carried further and further down stream by the flood waters. He was swept underneath them a second time, but managed to come back up to the surface. Coughing and sputtering, Fluey broke a couple of the planks on the chicken coop in order to climb inside of it. It wasn't much of a shelter, but at least it would keep him from drowning. Once Fluey got inside, he hung on for dear life. Several thoughts raced through his mind. What happened to Phyllis? Was she all right? Where would the flood waters lead? Where was he going to end up? And finally, would he be able to make it back home?

Exhausted from his escape from the clinic, Fluey began breathing heavily, and shivered a little in the cold. He closed his eyes, and slowly lapsed into unconsciousness.


	4. No Place Like Paws

_Bwaaaaak-buck-buck-buck-buck-buck-awwwwk!_

That was the first thing Fluey heard as he regained consciousness. It had stopped storming, thank goodness, and Fluey could feel the warm sunlight on his face.

"Mmmph . . . . ." he groaned, as he started to sit up, and he continued to hear the clucking. "What the heck is _that_?"

"Me trying to lay an egg, that's all," a voice said.

"Huh?" Fluey sat up and looked around, toward the clucking. Sitting at the bottom of that chicken coop he had climbed into was, of course, a chicken. It was that little red hen he saw while passing that farm on the way to the clinic.

"What the . . . . ." he said, a little dumbfounded. "A chicken?"

"Well, what'd you expect to find in a chicken coop?" the hen asked, flapping her wings a little. "Oooh. Never been so wet in my life. Now I know where that expression madder than a wet hen came from!"

"Holy Mesopotamia, a talking chicken!" Fluey shouted. "I must be cracking up!"

"So how big is this pond, anyway?" the chicken asked.

"I don't think it's a pond," Fluey said. "I think . . . . . I think I'm _really_ losing it!"

Fluey stood up, and looked around, as he saw the flood waters recede rapidly. Too rapidly. Soon it all dried up into a desert. Just at the edge of the desert was a green forest.

"Where are we, anyway?" the chicken asked.

Fluey was about to respond, when he saw a lizard come out of the forest, and into the desert. The minute it stepped onto the sand, it turned into sand. Fluey gasped.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

"I did," the hen said. "Better watch your step around here."

"Ooohhhh . . . . ." Fluey moaned, and he sat back down. "Suddenly, I don't feel so well . . . . ."

"Well, I hope you don't think of having some chicken soup!" the hen shouted. "How are we going to get out of here without turning to sand ourselves, Fluey?"

"I don't know, but . . . . ." Fluey started, and then he realized something. "Wait a minute. How'd you know my name? And how can you talk, anyway?"

"Trade secret, kiddo," the hen said.

"You know if we were in Paws, a talking chicken wouldn't be so out of the ordinary, would it?"

"No, it wouldn't. So how are we getting out of here?"

"Beats me, chicken."

"Call me Henrietta."

"Yeah, that figures. If only I had my transformer. Then we'd be able to get over to the forest without having to worry about touching the sand."

Fluey sighed, and dug his hands into his pockets. Then a confused look crossed his face, as he removed his hands from his pockets, and unearthed his transformer.

"What the . . . . ." he started. "How'd I get my transformer back? Well, who cares how I got it back! Time to fly the coop!"

"Is that a chicken joke?" Henrietta asked.

Fluey ignored Henrietta, and pushed the green button on his transformer. In a swirl of green and blue, he transformed over to his superhero form, grabbed the chicken, and flew out of the chicken coop in a partial liquid conversion.

"Rally ho ho!" he shouted.

As Fluey made his way over the desert, he was unaware he was being watched. An eye from one of the rocks in the desert seemed to open, and he watched the teen hero and the little red hen fly over to the grass at the edge of the desert, separating it with the forest. Once he reached the grass, he converted back to solid.

"There we go," he said. "You know something, Henrietta? I think we might be in the land of Paws after all. How else can you explain a forest right at the edge of a desert? Come on. Let's head for the Amethyst City."

As Fluey and Henrietta walked toward the forest, the eyes from the rocks in the desert appeared in the rocks in the forest. Neither of them noticed. They also didn't notice when the eyes in the rock slid underground and appeared again in a stone wall.

"Your majesty!" the creature called out to an unknown person (or thing). "Your majesty, _he_ has returned to Paws!"

"Good," a deep, ominous voice echoed through the underground caves. "Keep an eye on him."

The rock creature in the wall didn't go right away. It seemed hesitant about something.

"What is it?" the deep voice asked. "What's the matter?"

"He has a . . . . . chicken with him," the creature in the wall said.

"A _CHICKEN!_" the deep voice bellowed, causing the creature in the wall to shake a little.

Meanwhile, Fluey and Henrietta walked through the forest, until they reached what looked like the wreckage of a boat.

"What the . . . ." Fluey started. "That's the SS Jelly Roger . . . . Yogi's treasure hunting ship! It got swept up in a tornado, and landed here in Paws!"

"Looks like it was a rough trip," Henrietta clucked.

Fluey continued looking around the area, wondering how the ship got into this empty forest. When he arrived in Paws the first time, he crash landed right in the middle of Munchkin land.

"I don't think anybody could've moved this ship," Fluey said. "This has to be Munchkin land. But . . . . but how could it? Where are all the Munchkins? And where's . . . . ."

Fluey stopped in mid-sentence as he looked around. Then he gasped when he saw hundreds of yellow bricks scattered every which way.

"Holy Mesopotamia!" he yelled. He picked up one of the bricks, and held it, slightly slack-jawed. "It can't be! It just _can't_ be!"

"What's the matter?" Henrietta asked. "It's just a yellow brick."

"No . . . . ." Fluey said. "No, Henrietta, it's not just a yellow brick. This _was_ the Yellow Brick Road! It leads to the Amethyst City, and . . . . . I gotta find out what happened!"

With that, Fluey went into a partial conversion, and flew off down the path of yellow bricks. Henrietta raced after him, clucking frantically. All the while, they were being watched by that rock creature that had spotted them before. As Fluey streamed down the path, he began looking around. Nothing looked familiar to him. He wasn't even sure if he was on the right path at all, and he was growing more and more nervous by the minute. Finally, Fluey reached a field, filled with dead and dried up flowers, and was able to see the gates to the Amethyst City, except instead of a castle made of shining purple gems, he saw a city in ruins.

"Oh no . . . . . ." he said, as he stopped and converted back to solid.

"About time you stopped," Henrietta said, trying to catch her breath. Then she looked up at Fluey and noticed he appeared to be frozen in shock.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"The Amethyst City," Fluey said. "It looks like it's in ruins."

Fluey then picked up Henrietta and ventured into the city. It looked like it was deserted, except for several stone statues. Fluey recognized some of them as the citizens of the Amethyst City, when he had encountered them the first time. Then he saw something written on a wall, in what appeared to be red spray paint.

"Beware the Wheelers," he said. "Wheelers? What's a Wheeler? I don't remember them!"

Fluey put his chicken companion down, and continued searching the city. They came to a circle of statues, but they were all missing their heads.

"Boy, I've heard of losing your head, but this is ridiculous!" Fluey shouted.

"Just plain carelessness if you ask me," Henrietta said.

"I don't think we're going to get any information from the people here, Henrietta," Fluey sighed.

Suddenly, Fluey heard Henrietta cackling in a panic. He went into a conversion, and streamed over to see what the matter was. He immediately saw the trouble, and his jaw nearly hit the ground. There was a stone statue of a dog wearing a funnel on his head and holding up an axe.

"Hollerin' hi-fi's!" he shouted. "The Tin Hound Dog!"

Fluey looked around a little more, and saw a statue of a mountain lion, standing upright, with his fists held out as if he were about to partake in a boxing match. Fluey recognized him, too.

"The Cowardly Lion!" he shouted. "What happened to you guys? What happened to everybody? What's going _on_?"

Suddenly, Fluey began to hear squeaking wheels, much like the gurneys in the clinic. Then, a strange creature appeared. It was like nothing Fluey had ever seen before. It looked like it was part human, but it had wheels instead of hands and feet. Several of these things gathered around and were laughing like lunatics.

"I think these things must be Wheelers," Henrietta said.

They were surrounded. With one shriek, the Wheelers charged from all directions. Fluey wasted no time.

"Rally ho ho!" he shouted, picking up Henrietta, and then converting to liquid, shooting upward. This caused the all the Wheelers to crash into each other, but several more squawked and shrieked, and began chasing after our hero.

"I can't fight them by myself!" he shouted. "There are too many for me to handle alone!"

"So what do we do?" Henrietta asked.

"Heeeeere chicken, chicken, chicken!" one of the Wheelers called out.

Fluey went into a partial conversion again, hoping he could at least out run these things until he managed to find help. Superhero or not, he knew he was outnumbered.

"Uh oh . . . . ." Fluey said nervously, when he realized he had just flown himself and Henrietta into a dead end.

"Gotcha now!" one of the Wheelers said, as he screeched into view.

Fluey began looking around nervously. He had run into a covered area, so he couldn't escape by converting and flying upward, and the Wheelers were blocking the only exit, and closing in fast. Finally, he saw what looked like a keyhole.

"Yeah, man!" he shouted.

"That may work for you, Fluey, but I can't fit through that hole!" Henrietta shouted.

"Wait a minute!" Fluey shouted, pulling the brass key he had found out. "The key! Let's go, Henrietta!"

Immediately, Fluey stuck the key into the keyhole, and turned it. A door in the wall opened up, and immediately, our heroes dashed inside, closing it behind them, causing the Wheelers to crash into it. Then, they began screaming and squawking, making a terrible racket.

"Man, where's a set of earplugs when you need them?" Fluey shouted, plugging his ears with his fingers.

"You gotta come out of there some time, Water Boy!" the lead Wheeler yelled. "And when you do, we'll slice you to teeny, tiny, little pieces and throw you in the desert!"

"Hey man, I haven't even _done_ anything!" Fluey shouted. "What gives, anyway?"

"You've got a _chicken_ in there don't you?" the Wheeler shouted. "The Nome King doesn't allow _chickens_ in Paws!"

"The Nome King?" Fluey repeated. "Who's the Nome King?"

"Who's the Nome King?" the Wheeler said, and then, he and the others began laughing hysterically, mocking Fluey's question, as they wheeled away. Fluey heaved a sigh of relief once they were gone.

"Sheesh!" he shouted. "Paws sure isn't how I remembered it!"

Fluey turned around, and stopped in his tracks. He saw a statue or something, made out of purple metal and bronze. It appeared to be in the shape of a hippopotamus. As a matter of fact, he looked a great deal like Peter Potamus.

"What the heck?" Fluey asked. "What do you think it is, Henrietta?"

"Beats me," Henrietta said. "Why don't you go find out?"

Slowly, Fluey walked over toward the strange, metal hippo, and wiped some of the dust and cobwebs off with his hand. He spotted a badge or something on his chest, and bent over to read it.

"The Royal Army of Paws," he said.

"Heh," Henrietta cackled. "Some army!"

"Hey, here's some directions," Fluey said. "Let's see what makes this fella tick. Patented Clockwork Mechanical Hippo. Does everything but live. For thinking, wind key number one under left arm. For speaking, wind key number two under right arm. For walking and action, wind key number three in the back. Hmm. Sounds interesting. What's say we wind him up and see what happens?"

Fluey then wound all three of the keys on the Clockwork Hippo, and it seemed to come to life with a loud yawn.

"Hey, what do you know, it worked!" Fluey shouted.

"Huh?" the hippo asked, looking around. "Hey, who are you?"

"I'm Fluey, and she's Henrietta," Fluey said.

"Fluey . . . . ." the hippo said. "Hey! You're the kid I've been waiting for!"

"Waiting for?" Fluey asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the Scarecrow, the Tin Hound, and the Cowardly Lion sent you the key to open this place," the hippo said. "The Scarecrow locked me in here and told me to wait for you."

"Where _is_ the Scarecrow, anyway?" Fluey asked. "And what happened to the Amethyst City?"

"I don't know where the Scarecrow is," the hippo said. "He just disappeared, and everything living turned to stone."

"How come you didn't turn to stone?" Henrietta asked.

"Because I'm a mechanical hippo," the hippo said. "I don't live."

"This is Paws, Henrietta," Fluey said, shrugging. "It doesn't always have to make sense here. Anyway, we've got to figure out a way to escape those rolling hyenas."

"The Wheelers," Henrietta said. "They're gonna throw us in the desert!"

"I may have super powers, but I can't take them all at once," Fluey said. "There are too many."

"Don't worry about a thing, Fluey," the hippo said. "I know exactly what will take care of them. Let's go."

The threesome then opened the door slightly, and Fluey looked around.

"All's clear," he said. "Let's go."

The group then made their way down the alley where the Wheelers had cornered them, and continued looking around. It was too quiet for the hippo's liking.

"Those Wheelers can be pretty tough customers," he said.

"Yeah, man," Fluey agreed. "Better keep your eyes open."

Suddenly, the sound of squeaky wheels filled the air, and a group of Wheelers came charging toward them.

"Uh oh . . . ." Fluey said.

"I'll take care of this," the hippo said. "Stand back. This calls for my secret weapon. The Hippo Hurricane Holler."

The clockwork hippo then took a deep breath, and faced the oncoming Wheelers.

"Yeee_eeeeaAAAAAAAOOOOOOWWWWW!_"

That did it. The Wheelers were literally blown away. Probably into the next county. Except for one, and he was about to charge again.

"Leave this one to me," Fluey said, putting Henrietta down for a moment. Then he went into a partial conversion with his fist outstretched.

"Rally ho ho!" he yelled, as he shot forward, and gave the lone Wheeler a good hard punch in the nose. Then Fluey grabbed him by the lapels.

"Okay, buster, we want some answers here!" he shouted.

"You'll be sorry for treating me like this!" the Wheeler shouted, writhing around trying to get out of the dark-haired Impossible's grip. "I'm a _terr_ible fierce person!"

"Give it a rest, you laughing hyena!" Fluey shouted. "I'm not afraid of you! Where's the Scarecrow, and what happened to the Amethyst City?"

"The Nome King conquered the Amethyst City," the Wheeler said. "And he took all the amethysts, and he turned everyone to stone!"

"Yeah, we know _that_ part," Fluey said. "But where's the Scarecrow?"

The Wheeler began laughing like a lunatic just then. Fluey groaned.

"Okay, Laughing Boy, if that's how ya wanna play it," he said. "Hey, Hippo, know where I can get a screwdriver? I want to see how far this Wheeler can get once we take off his wheels!"

"Eeeeep!" the Wheeler squeaked. "Uhhh . . . . uhhh, there's only one person who knows where the Scarecrow is. And that's . . . . Princess M-m-m-mombi!"

"I don't remember her," Fluey shrugged.

"Okay, fella," the Hippo said. "You take us to this Princess Mombi."

"Oh no . . . . noooooo . . . . . . noooooo!" the Wheeler shrieked. But he didn't have a choice. Fluey, the Hippo, and Henrietta soon arrived at the castle of this Princess Mombi person. The Hippo was holding onto the Wheeler by the coat tails who was whining and carrying on.

"Let me go, let me go!" he wailed. "Pleeease . . . . _pleeeeeease!_"

"Okay, Hippo, you might as well let him go," Fluey said.

"All right," the Hippo said, and he let go of the Wheeler. "But you'd better behave yourself, buster!"

"I'll behave," the Wheeler said, and the Hippo let go of him. Then he took off like a shot, laughing like crazy. Fluey just watched him go, and shook his head.

"Sheesh, I wonder what _he's_ been smoking!" he shouted. Then he grabbed one of the door knockers and banged it against the door.

"Hello!" he called. "Anybody home!"

"I don't think so," Henrietta said.

"Well . . . . the door's unlocked," Fluey said, as he pushed open the door. "Come on, Hippo. Let's check this out."

And with that, Fluey, the Hippo, and Henrietta made their way into the castle.


	5. Heads You Lose

The trio went through the halls of the castle, looking around.

"Wow, wouldja look at this place," Henrietta said. "What a mess!"

"Ah-choo!" the Hippo sneezed (but thankfully, not at the level of a "Hurricane Hippo Holler"). "Boy, I've never seen so much dust in my life!"

"Helloooooo!" Fluey called out. "Is anybody home?"

Suddenly, the trio began to hear music in the distance, and they walked toward the source of it. They climbed up a set of stairs, and walked down a long hallway, until they came to a large door that had a large, gold letter "M" on it. The door opened in three different sections when our heroes came close to it. One section went to the right, another to the left, and another raised upward simultaneously, allowing our heroes passage. Once they were inside the room, the doors closed in the opposite direction. Our heroes found themselves in a throne room, which looked like it was was made entirely out of golden mirrors. In the center of the room was a throne, where a beautiful woman with curly dark blond hair, wearing a a long purple dress, and a red key on her wrist, sat, playing a mandolin. Our heroes walked toward her.

"Excuse us," Fluey said. "We don't mean to barge in, but are you Princess Mombi?"

"I am," the woman said. She had somewhat of a soft, melodic voice. She looked over Fluey carefully, and smiled.

"I think I'll put on something a little more . . . . . appropriate," she said. "Follow me. Your friends can stay here."

"Listen, uhh, we're kind of in a hurry here," Fluey said. "We're looking for the Scarecrow, and . . . ."

"All in due time," Mombi said. "Come with me."

Fluey shrugged, put Henrietta down on the floor, and followed Mombi into another long hallway. This one had cabinets on either side of the hallway, with mannequins behind them, all wearing wigs. Blonde, brunette, red, black, all in various hairstyles. Long, straight, short, curly, braided, loose, any style you can think of. Or at least, Fluey _thought_ they were mannequins. When he started walking down this hallway, he noticed the heads were watching him. It was a little unnerving, but Fluey didn't think much of it at the time. It might have been an optical illusion, anyway, or he was imagining things (after all, lack of sleep _does _do strange things to you). Then he noticed there was a cabinet that was completely empty. No mannequin head in it at all. Mombi stopped at this one, took her key, and unlocked the cabinet door.

"I think number four will do for this afternoon," she said.

Fluey watched, as Mombi began to put up her hair in bobby pins. Then, she lifted it right off her body, and put it inside the cabinet. Fluey's jaw nearly hit the floor. He was completely dumbfounded.

"Boy, I've heard of changing your mind, but changing your head?" he asked himself. "_Sheesh_!"

Fluey watched as Mombi crossed over to the other side of the hallway, took her key, and unlocked another cabinet, and took out another head (he noticed she was pretty accurate for being headless). This one had black hair done up in an elaborate up-do. Before she put it on, she turned toward the dark-haired Impossible. Fluey backed up a little, nervously.

"What do you think?" the disembodied head asked. This one had a deep voice, and it didn't sound at all pleasant.

"Uhhh . . . . yeah, great," Fluey said.

Mombi then put this head on, and closed the cabinet door. It was all Fluey could do to keep from keeling over. This _had_ to have been the creepiest thing he had ever seen.

"Now just who are you?" she asked. "And what are you doing here?"

"I'm Fluid Man, of the Impossibles," Fluey said, using his full code name. "And I'm looking for my friend the Scarecrow."

"Fluid Man," Mombi repeated. "Come closer."

"Uhh, do you know what happened to the Scarecrow?" Fluey asked, cautiously coming closer.

"The Nome King took him, and all of the amethysts in the Amethyst City to his mountain," Mombi said. Then she took Fluey's chin in her hand, and tilted his head upward.

"Hmmm . . . . ." she said, turning Fluey's head from side to side. "You're quite an attractive young man. You'll be quite handsome when you're a little older. I think I'll lock you in the tower for a few years until your head is perfect."

"Perfect for what?" Fluey asked, nervously.

"Perfect to take," Mombi said. "I think your head will look quite lovely over my mantlepiece."

"Think again sister!" Fluey shouted. He tried to escape but before he could even make so much as a partial conversion, to liquid, Mombi grabbed his wrist, and pulled his transformer out. She pushed the blue button on it, deactivating his powers.

"That's better," she said, pocketing his transformer. Then she laughed, and started dragging Fluey down the hallway.

"Let go of me!" Fluey yelled, trying to wrench himself away, but Mombi had a killer grip.

Suddenly, Henrietta flew onto the scene, clucking and cackling, and she flew right into Mombi's face, and she began pecking and scratching at her.

"You overgrown feather duster!" Mombi shouted, grabbing the chicken by the legs with one hand, all the while keeping her grip on Fluey's wrist with her other hand.

"Hold it right there, sister!" the clockwork hippo shouted as he came forward, but then he suddenly stopped. "Uh oh. I think my action ran down. It probably ran down faster than usual because of the Hippo Hurricane Holler I used on the Wheelers. That takes a lot out of my action, you know."

"Hah!" Mombi shouted, and she opened a hidden door behind a large mirror, and dragged Fluey and Henrietta through it.

"What are you going to do with the clockwork hippo?" Fluey asked, still trying to wrench himself away from this witch.

"I'll leave him right where he is," Mombi said. "He'll make a marvelous statue!"

Mombi then dragged her captives up a flight of stairs, and practically threw them in the tower. Then she slammed the door shut, and locked it, throwing Fluey a smug look before she left.

"Princess my foot," Fluey said. "More like the Wicked Witch of the West!"

Fluey gave the door a punch with his fist out of frustration, not realizing it was made of an ornate wrought iron pattern.

"Ow!" he shouted, hissing in pain. "Memo to me, never punch out a wrought iron door."

Fluey shook out his hand, and looked around the room. It was filled with old furniture and decorative items, such as sofas, chairs, lamps, candelabras, potted plants, and some paintings and statues.

"Pretty big tower room," Henrietta commented.

"I'll say," Fluey replied, walking toward a large circular window. He reached his hand through the iron bars and wiped some of the gunk off of it to see what was outside. There were the ruins of the Amethyst City, and beyond that, there was a huge mountain, way in the distance.

"I'll bet my Aunt Tillie's surfboard that's the Nome King's mountain," he said.

"If this is Paws, I'd rather take my chances back on the farm," Henrietta said.

"Well, without my transformer, we're stuck," Fluey sighed. He continued walking around a little, until he came to a large painting, depicting the Scarecrow, the Tin Hound Dog, and the Cowardly Lion, just like how Fluey remembered them (as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and Snagglepuss, respectively).

"Mom?" a voice asked. "Mom? Is that you?"

Fluey looked around, slightly startled, to see who was speaking. It appeared to be a purple octopus.

"Squiddly Diddly?" Fluey asked.

"No," the octopus said. "I'm Mel. It's short for Mellon Head."

"Mellon Head?" Henrietta repeated.

"Yeah, because my head's made of a casaba mellon," Mel said.

"Sorry," Fluey said, shrugging. "But you look a lot like an octopus I know named Squiddly."

"And I don't suppose you're my mom, huh?" Mel asked.

"Who me?" Fluey said. "No way. Boys can't be moms, you know."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mel said. "But who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Fluey, and that's Henrietta up there," Fluey said. "That witch, Mombi, locked us in here. But what are you doing up here?"

"Well, my mom made out of a casaba mellon, and some sticks and twine and stuff, and painted me purple, you see," Mel said. "She was intending to use me to scare Mombi. And it worked. Sort of. Mombi was scared, and then she got angry. She has a _very_ terrible temper!"

"Yeah, I've noticed," Fluey said. "Where did she get all those . . . .. yecchhh . . . . . _heads_?"

"Did you see the headless dancing girls outside in the courtyard?" Mel asked. "That's where she got them. Anyway, Mombi was gonna tear me to pieces, but then she decided to test this Powder of Life stuff she got from a magician. And it worked, and so here I am."

"Powder of Life?" Fluey asked. "What's that?"

"You sprinkle it on something and poof!" Mel shouted. "It comes to life."

"Think she has any more of it?" Fluey asked, eyeing a stuffed squirrel on the ledge, wearing a white trench coat and purple fedora (as a matter of fact, he looked a great deal like Secret Squirrel).

"If she does, it's probably in cabinet thirty-one," Mel said. "That's where she keeps a bunch of stuff . . . . . along with her original head."

"Eeesh . . . ." Fluey grimaced, and he began rubbing his neck. As he was doing so, he caught sight of a couple of old sofas nearby.

"What happened to your mother?" Henrietta asked.

"She just up and disappeared one day," Mel said. "My guess is Mombi enchanted her or something. Then she threw me up here and said she was gonna make a pie out of me. But she was wearing head twenty-two when she said that, and she must not have worn it since 'cause apparently she forgot I'm up here."

"I've got it!" Fluey shouted, suddenly. "Listen you guys, I have an idea!"

Fluey, Mel, and Henrietta huddled while Fluey told them his idea. Then, Mel reached one of his long, thin arms through the iron bars on the door and managed to undo the lock. Then, he and Fluey walked down the stairs, and into the throne room.

"Come on," Fluey said, motioning Mel to follow him. The two of them walked over to the Clockwork Hippo, and Fluey immediately began winding up his action.

"Don't say anything, Hippo," he whispered. "This is Mel. Once I get done winding you up, go upstairs with him, and he and Henrietta will explain everything. I'm going to get my transformer back."

Once Fluey finished winding the Hippo up, he and Mel went back up the stairs and Mel explained Fluey's plan. Fluey, in the meantime, went to a door, and opened it slowly. Inside, he found a headless Mombi sprawled out on her back, sleeping soundly, and snoring loudly.

_I don't even want to KNOW how in the world she can be snoring without a head, _he thought to himself.

Luckily for Fluey, Mombi's key was still tied around her wrist, and within his reach. He just had to get it without waking her up. Slowly, he approached the bed, feeling a little unnerved at the snoring headless body, and began untying the black ribbon around Mombi's wrist. Just as he got it untied, Mombi let out a loud snort, and moved. Fluey ducked down to the floor as quickly as he could. Then, he cautiously came back up, just as slowly. Mombi had turned toward the opposite side of him, which was a lucky break. Even luckier was the fact she left the key were it was. Immediately, Fluey grabbed it, and left the room, quickly, but quietly.

Meanwhile upstairs, the Hippo, Mel, and Henrietta were busy tying a couple of sofas together. Mel was taking the stuffed squirrel Fluey had been eyeing earlier, and put it in the front, securing the squirrel to the sofas with a piece of chord.

"Okay, good, good, good," the Hippo said. "Now squirrel the head in the front and tie Mel's feet together."

"Right," Mel said, taking a piece of chord. He bent down and tied his feet (all six of them) together.

"Now, bring the mantlepiece to the desk and anoint the palms," the Hippo said.

"Right," Mel said, but as soon as he took one step forward, he fell to the floor. "Whooooaaaa!"

"Right, left, right, wrong," the Hippo rambled. "Left, wrong, right, left . . . ."

"What's he talking about?" Mel asked.

"Water boy, squawky eggs make chicky fly the coop . . . ." the Hippo continued rambling. Mel and Henrietta stared at him, not knowing _what_ to think.

Back downstairs, Fluey had made his way to Mombi's "Hall of Heads." Lucky for him, they were all asleep. He was incredibly creeped out by it, and even more creeped out at the thought of his own head hanging above Mombi's mantle, like a some sort of hunting trophy. He rubbed his neck a little, and gulped, then slowly started walking down the hall. Cabinet thirty-one was at the very end of the hallway.

"Yeah, that figures," he said, quietly.

Fluey slowly walked down the hall, and headed for the cabinet. He noticed this one had a mirror on the door, instead of clear glass like all the other cabinets. But he didn't wonder about it for long. There wasn't time to figure it out. He had to get his transformer, and the Powder of Life Mel had talked about. He stuck the key into the hole on the cabinet door, and opened it as slowly and as quietly as possible. Inside, he not only found the Powder of Life can and his transformer, but he also found Mombi's original head, and she looked exactly like Dr. Lorry from the clinic, except her hair was curly reddish-brown, and hanging loose. Fluey gasped when he saw it, and backed up a little. Then, he swallowed, and reached into the cabinet. He grabbed his transformer and slowly took it out, putting it in his pocket. Then, he slowly reached in again, for the Powder of Life can. Unfortunately, his hand hit a small bottle in front of it, and knocked it over. This woke up Mombi's original head. Fluey froze the minute she opened her eyes. Mombi's head look startled for a moment, but quickly turned to a fierce glare once she laid eyes on the dark-haired Impossible.

"_Fluuuuiiiiiiiid Maaaaaan_!" she shouted. And, wouldn't you know it, this woke up all of Mombi's other heads, and they began shrieking at the top of their voices. Mombi's original head kept screaming Fluey's name over and over again.

"I'm history!" Fluey yelled, as he grabbed the Powder of Life can. Then he slammed the cabinet door shut, pulled the key out, stuffed it in his other pocket, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He also saw Mombi's headless body get up.

"Holy headless horseman!" he shouted, as the headless body came at him, lumbering like Frankenstein's monster. Quickly, he dodged, and ducked underneath one of the body's arms, and kept right on running. He reached the center room, and ran to a mirror, but it wouldn't budge. He tried another one, but it too was just a plain old mirror.

"Oh _no_!" he shouted. "Which mirror is it?"

Fluey ran around the room in circles, trying to remember which mirror hid the door to the tower. He didn't have much time to find it. Even if he transformed into his superhero form, it wouldn't help. There wasn't any space to slide under it. He could hear Mombi's headless body fumbling around in the Hall of Heads. He _had_ to find that door, and fast!


	6. Flight for Freedom

Fluey looked around the room, and he began to panic. Suddenly, he saw some sort of light in one of the mirrors. It began to take shape, but Fluey couldn't tell just what it was. He looked at it oddly, especially when it looked like the thing in the mirror was beckoning him to come toward it. Though he was confused, he ran toward this light in the mirror, anyway, and he discovered that this mirror was the door to the tower. Fluey immediately dashed up the stairs, throwing open the tower door.

"We've got to move it!" he shouted. "Mombi's awake and . . . . . what the heck is going on up here? Why isn't it finished?"

"The Hippo just went bananas on us," Henrietta said.

"Boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy . . . . ." the Hippo rambled, bouncing from one foot to the other. "Wooba, wooba, wooba, wooba . . . . ."

"Oh _broth_er," Fluey groaned, smacking his hand to his forehead. "His brains ran down!"

"How can he talk if his brains ran down?" Mel asked, giving Fluey a confused look.

"Don't ask!" Fluey shouted, as he began winding up the Hippo's brains. "Just finish tying the palm leaves to the sofa!"

"Whew," the Hippo said, after a few turns of the key. "Thanks, Fluey. I should be okay now."

"Good," Fluey said. "Go watch for Mombi."

The Hippo went to the door while Fluey began shaking the can of powder over the squirrel, the sofas, and the palm leaves. He was sprinkling the powder like crazy, but nothing was happening.

"Oh brother," he groaned. "_Now _what?"

"Maybe there were some magic words or something," Mel said. "I don't remember. I wasn't alive then, how do you expect me to remember something when I wasn't alive?"

"Maybe the magic words are on the can," Henrietta suggested.

"Worth a shot," Fluey said. He looked at the can, and then made a face. "Holy Mesopotamia, I don't know what the heck these words are!"

"Well, try them anyway," Henrietta shouted.

"Okay . . . ." Fluey said, shrugging. "But they're _really_ out there. Weaugh, teaugh, peaugh!"

"Say _what_?" the squirrel suddenly shouted.

"It worked!" Mel shouted.

"Now let's get outta here!" Fluey shouted. "Mel, go open the window!"

"All aboard!" Henrietta called, as she flapped onto one of the sofas.

Suddenly, our heroes heard a loud crash from downstairs, like the sound of breaking glass. Then there were footsteps stomping up a flight of stairs.

"Uh oh," the Hippo said. "She's coming!"

"Hurry! We've gotta get going!" Fluey shouted. "Start flapping, squirrel!"

"Flapping?" the squirrel repeated. "What do you think I am, a flying squirrel? I don't have any wings!"

"You do now," Fluey said, grabbing a couple of boards. The gang had set up boards attached to the palms, kind of like oars.

"Well, what do you know about that," the squirrel said.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and there was Mombi, wearing her original head.

"_STOP_!" she shrieked.

"Let's move it!" Fluey yelled.

The squirrel began flapping the palm leaf wings, and Mel and the Hippo began pushing the sofa toward the balcony as fast as they could. Mombi chased after them, but the group smashed through the tower balcony before she could get to them. Unfortunately, instead of flying, they began to plummet. Mombi watched, and laughed smugly, thinking for sure they'd crash to the ground and into a million pieces.

"Fly! Fly, already!" Fluey yelled.

The Squirrel "flapped" the wings as hard as he could, and the sofa suddenly began flying, just before it could it the ground.

"We made it!" Mel cheered happily. The others followed suit.

Mombi growled, stormed down the stairs, and out to the front steps of her castle, where several Wheelers were strewn about, sleeping.

"WAKE UP!" Mombi screamed at the top of her voice. "Get up, you fools! Get up! All of you get up!"

The Wheelers immediately began scrambling to their wheels upon hearing Mombi shriek.

"He's escaping, you idiots!" she yelled at them. "After him! Don't let him get away! And make sure you bring back that _chicken_!"

The Wheelers began screeching, and they rolled off, after our heroes. It was better than facing Mombi's wrath, _that_ was for sure!

"AND DON'T YOU _DARE_ COME BACK WITHOUT THEM, EITHER!" Mombi shrieked at the top of her voice.

Meanwhile, our heroes were flying along. Fluey crawled up to the front of the two joined sofas, and leaned against the side of it, next to the Squirrel.

"How're you holding up?" he asked.

"Oh fine," the Squirrel said. "But I'm still a little confused. One minute, I was walking through the woods, and the next, here I am. What am I, anyway?"

"A squirrel driving a flying sofa, I guess," Fluey shrugged. "See, we built you, and brought you to life. We needed you to escape that witch Mombi, and now you have to take us to the Nome King's mountain, so we can rescue my friend, the Scarecrow."

"I see," the Squirrel said. "Let me ask you something, though. How will we know where to land? I can barely see a thing down there, since it's so dark."

"Well, from the balcony window, I saw the mountain," Fluey said. "It was straight ahead. So maybe if we fly straight until daylight, we'll find some place where we can land safely."

"Good idea, Fluey," the Hippo said.

"Think you can just keep flying this thing straight, Mr. Squirrel?" Mel asked.

"Oh yeah, sure, no problem," the Squirrel said. "Truthfully, I don't think I'd be able to turn this thing if I wanted to."

Fluey smiled, and yawned. He settled down on one side of the couch and stretched a little. Henrietta yawned herself, and made herself comfortable next to Fluey. Fluey began stroking her feathers, wishing Multi's pet puppy, Skittles, was there.

"Boy," Fluey said, yawning again. "Am I ever sleepy. This is probably the first time in weeks I _was_ this sleepy."

Fluey yawned again, closed his eyes, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep, the first sleep he had in weeks, due to his insomnia.

Mombi, in the meantime, sat in her throne room, playing her mandolin, waiting for the Wheelers to return, impatiently. As she sat playing, she saw some sort of light form flickering in one of her windows.

"Pawsma . . . . ." she said. Then she smirked. "Nobody's going to help you. Nobody knows where you are. And . . . . there's nobody left that even knows _who_ you are."

And with that, the light in the mirror flickered away.

Meanwhile, the Wheelers were wheeling their way through the forest, racing after our heroes, shrieking like monkeys. Mel and the Hippo looked down over the side of the sofa and watched them.

"What are they?" Mel asked.

"Wheelers," the Hippo explained. "I'd take care of them with my Hippo Hurricane Holler, but my action''ll run out again if I try it."

"Think you can fly any faster, Mr. Squirrel?" Mel asked.

"Only if one of you jumps off," the Squirrel said. Mel thought that one over for a minute.

"Well . . . ." he said. "You're the heaviest, Hippo . . . . ."

"Watch it, Mellon-Head!" the Hippo shouted. "Unless you want me to Hippo Hurricane Holler _you_ right out of Paws!"

Mel shut up after that crack. The Wheelers kept right on coming at this point. The Squirrel tried to fly them out as fast as he could, but he wasn't having much luck. However, fate was on their side. As the Wheelers continued, they came across the desert where Fluey and Henrietta had landed. One Wheeler drove directly into the desert, and immediately turned into sand. The others shrieked and retreated.

"That'll take care of _them,_" the Hippo said. "For awhile, at least."

Mel nodded. It was about all he could do. Throughout the rest of the night, the Hippo, Mel, and the Squirrel took turns rowing their make-shift vehicle over the desert and toward the Nome King's mountain. Henrietta was too small to row both oars, and none of them had the heart to wake Fluey up. Unfortunately, Lady Luck had thrown them a wild card. By daybreak, Fluey was awakened by some very heavy turbulence.

"Hey," he said, a little sleepily. "What's going on?"

"The ropes are breaking!" the Hippo shouted.

"Holy Mesopotamia, if it isn't one thing, it's another!" Fluey shouted, just as the rope on one side snapped.

"Uh oh . . . . we're falling apart!" the Squirrel shouted. "Somebody better grab the rope on the other side before _it_ breaks too!"

"I got it!" Mel shouted. Fluey was about to see if he could re-attach the broken rope when he heard Mel scream. He turned toward Mel, and noticed his head was falling over the side.

"Boy, I've heard of losing your head, but this is ridiculous!" Fluey shouted, pulling out his transformer. "Hang on, Mel! I'm coming!"

Fluey pushed the green button on his transformer, and in a swirl of green and blue, converted to his superhero form.

"Rally ho ho!" he shouted, as he went into a partial conversion, and dove after Mel's head.

"What the heck is he doing?" the Squirrel asked.

"Getting Mel's head," the Hippo replied. "We'd better go after them."

"I don't know . . . . ." the Squirrel said, hesitantly. "I don't think this thing was made to make turns."

"Well, try, already," the Hippo said. "What've we got to lose?"

"All right," the Squirrel said. "Hold on. I don't know if I should do this, though."

The Hippo, the Squirrel, and Henrietta began maneuvering the make-shift plane downward, just as Fluey caught up with Mel's head. He grabbed it, and splashed back into the sofas.

"Whew!" he shouted. "That was close."

"Yeah," Mel said. "Can you put my head back on my body now?"

"Sure," Fluey said.

Mel's body then stood up, letting go of the rope, which caused it to break.

"_Bwaaaaaak_!" Henrietta screeched.

"Holy Mesopotamia!" Fluey shouted, as the sofas broke apart. He went into a liquid conversion and was able to grab Henrietta, but there was no way he'd be able to do the same with the Hippo, Mel, and the Squirrel.

"Sorry for losing my head, Fluey!" Mel's head shouted, as it fell.

"Well, it can't be helped now!" Fluey shouted, trying to grab Mel's head, but it didn't work.

Finally, one of the sofas crash landed on a mountain ledge, while the other one continued to plummet. The Squirrel landed directly on the sofa, while Mel's body crashed onto the ledge, and his head hit his neck, upside down. The Hippo crashed into the snow head first. Fluey flew down toward them with Henrietta, and converted back to solid as he landed.

"Uhhh . . . . ." he said. "Sorry about that, fellas."

"That was rather an odd experience, wasn't it?" the Squirrel asked.

"Hey!" the Hippo shouted. "Could somebody please get me outta here?"

"Yeah, hang on a second, Hippo," Fluey said, putting Henrietta down on the sofa. He ran over to his clockwork friend, and set him upright.

"You okay, Mel?" Fluey asked the mellon-headed squid.

"Yeah, but why are you all standing on your heads?" Mel asked.

"Oh brother," Fluey sighed. "Here, let me fix your head."

Fluey yanked Mel's casaba mellon head off his neck, turned it right side up, and stuck it back.

"That's better," Mel said. "Thanks, Fluey."

"Where are we, anyway?" Henrietta asked.

"I think this is it," Fluey said. "The Nome King's mountain."


	7. The Nome King

The group just stood there, staring at the mountain. The Hippo began backing up, to get a better view of the top of it. In doing so, he nearly backed clear off the mountain ledge.

"Whoa!" he shouted, waving his arms, trying to steady himself. Luckily, Fluey grabbed him before he could fall.

"Hey, man, be careful!" he shouted, pulling the Hippo back onto the ledge. "It's a long way down!"

"So . . . . . what do we do now?" Mel asked.

"Figure out how to get in, I suppose," Fluey said, shrugging.

"Hold it, hold it, hold it," Henrietta said. "Aren't you forgetting something? The Wheelers said the Nome King doesn't like chickens."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Fluey said. "Hey, wait a minute, I got an idea. Mel, come here. We'll hide Henrietta inside your head."

"Why _my _head?" Mel asked.

"Because you're the only one here who's head is hollow," Fluey said.

"I've heard of feather brains, but this is ridiculous," Henrietta cackled, as Fluey picked her up, and hid her inside Mel's casaba mellon head.

"You want to end up roasting on a spit?" Fluey asked. "Just stay in there and keep quiet."

After they got Henrietta settled, the group began looking around, trying to figure out what to do. Nobody noticed they were being watched by a face in the rocks. The same face in the rocks that had spied on Fluey when he landed in Paws. Once it saw what it needed to see, it disappeared from the exterior of the mountain, and appeared again in the interior.

"Your majesty!" the creature shouted. "It's _him_! He escaped Mombi, crossed the desert, and now he's on _our_ mountain with an army!"

"Hmmm . . . . ." the deep voice within the mountain said. "He is obviously more powerful than I assumed. What about the chicken?"

"There is no sign of a chicken," the rock creature said.

"I'd better look into this myself."

Back on the mountain ledge, our heroes continued looking around, until Fluey stopped, and stared at the mountain.

"Brother, I must be losing it," he said. "I could almost swear there's a face in the rocks."

"If you're losing it, then I'm losing it with you," the Squirrel said.

"Tell me who you are!" the face in the rock shouted. "And what you're doing here on my mountain!"

"Holy Mesopotamia!" Fluey shouted, nearly jumping out his skin. "It talks!"

"I think maybe it's the Nome King," the Hippo said.

"I'll say it again," the Nome King said. "Tell me who you are!"

"I'm Fluid Man, of the Impossibles, your majesty," Fluey said. "And these are my friends, the Clockwork Hippo, the Mellon-Headed Squid, and the Squirrel."

"Fluid Man . . . ." the Nome King repeated. "_The_ Fluid Man from Jellystone Park?"

"Uhh, yeah, I guess . . . . ." Fluey said. "Considering that's where I was before I ended up in Paws the first time. Anyway, we're here to ask you to release the Scarecrow and to restore the Amethyst City."

"I see," the Nome King said. "You believe I have stolen something, and you want me to give it back, do you?"

"Yes sir," Fluey said.

"You think if someone steals something, then the right thing to do is to give it back, do you?"

"Yes sir."

"I see . . . . . and perhaps they don't want to give it back, hmm? What then, Fluid Man?"

"Well . . . . . then we'll conquer you, and force you to give it back if we have to! I have the Royal Army of Paws with me!"

"Army?"

The Hippo then came forward, and saluted. The Nome King then began snickering at this. Then the snickers built up to hysterical laughter. The mountain began shaking as he laughed, until the ground began cracking open. Everyone backed up, to avoid falling into the cracks. Unfortunately, Fluey couldn't back away fast enough, and he fell directly into one of the cracks.

"Rally heeeeeeyyyyyy!" he shouted.

Fluey fell through what appeared to be some kind of cavern, filled with what looked like crystals, though Fluey wasn't quite sure what they were.

"All the precious stones in the world are made here," he heard the Nome King say. "And they're all made for _me_, by my Nomes. So you can imagine how I feel when someone from above digs down here, and steals _my_ treasures! All the amethysts in the Amethyst City belong to _me_! So you see, I was just taking back what rightfully belongs to me!"

"But you have so many!" Fluey shouted.

"That's not the point!" the Nome King shouted. "_I_ am not the thief here!"

Fluey suddenly hit the floor, and slid down an incline, directly into the Scarecrow.

"Hey, hey, hee," the Scarecrow said. "Long time, no see, Fluey."

"Scarecrow, what . . . ." Fluey began. Before he could finish the sentence, a crash of thunder was heard, and in a flash, the Scarecrow had disappeared.

"Huh?" Fluey shouted, standing up. "What . . . . . where . . . ."

"It's your friend that's the thief," the Nome King said. Fluey looked around, and noticed a face in the wall, sort of smirking at him.

"What happened?" Fluey asked. "What did you do with the Scarecrow?"

"I transformed him," the Nome King said. "I turned him into an ornament for my palace. I had been planning to do it for quite some time now, and your coming here reminded me to do it. Thank you."

And with that, the Nome King disappeared. Fluey converted to liquid and shot toward the wall, ready to punch his lights out, but the Nome King vanished before he could get there, and he only succeeded in crashing into the wall.

_SPLAT!_

"Oooh!" he shouted, converting back to solid. "He didn't steal the amethysts! They were already there when he came! Somebody _else_ stole them! The Scarecrow didn't steal _any_thing! They were already there, do you hear me? _They were already there!_"

Fluey sat down on the floor, trying to catch his breath. He knew this wasn't going to get him anywhere, but he had no idea what else to do. So he just sat there and tried to get his bearings. He had a feeling he was going to get hysterical in a minute, and that definitely wouldn't help the situation. As he was sitting there, trying to get a hold of himself, he suddenly felt someone, or some_thing_, stroking his hair, much like Big D often did to calm him down whenever he _did_ start getting hysterical. Fluey looked up, and saw the Nome King in the rocks, except he looked a little more humanesque than before. He actually looked a little familiar to Fluey, but the dark-haired Impossible couldn't quite place it.

"Calm down," the Nome King said. "Just calm down. There's no need for hysterics."

"He didn't steal the amethysts!" Fluey shouted. "They were already there! They were there when the Wizard of Paws left him and the Tin Hound Dog and the Cowardly Lion in charge!"

"I see," the Nome King said. "Well, you know all is not lost, Fluid Man. I think I may have a solution to this little problem."

Fluey looked at the Nome King oddly, and then heard a scream. Or rather three screams. He turned around, and saw the Hippo, Mel, and the Squirrel come sliding into the room from the incline. Then they crashed into the wall.

"Anybody got a Aspirin?" the Hippo asked, dazedly.

"Now, then, you and your friends can play a little game," the Nome King said. "And I bet you'll get the Scarecrow back, after all. You're a very resourceful young man. You'd risk something for that now, wouldn't you?"

Fluey thought that one over. This would take some time to consider.

"You and your friends can inspect my ornament collection, one at a time," the Nome King continued. "You all have three chances each to guess which one is the Scarecrow. If you touch the right object and say the word Paws at the same time, the Scarecrow will be restored, and you may all leave? Does that sound fair to you?"

"I guess . . . . ." Fluey said, hesitantly.

"I don't think there's much of anything else we can do, Fluey," the Squirrel said.

"Yeah, we're up a creek without a paddle," the Hippo said.

"Yeah, we don't have much of a choice here," Fluey said. Then he stood up. "Okay. We accept the challenge."

"Excellent," the Nome King said. Then, several hands appeared in another stone wall, and began moving about, as if they were clearing stones away from the entrance. Fluey made a face as he watched. This whole thing was creeping him out big time.

"Paws really was nothing like this the last time I was here," he said.

Finally, the hands cleared, and there was an entrance to the Nome King's ornament collection.

"Why doesn't the squirrel go first?" the Nome King suggested.

"Why do I have a feeling I'd be better off stuffed?" the Squirrel asked, as he went through the opening. Once he was inside, the hands closed up the opening in the wall. There was nothing the others could do then, but wait.

Meanwhile, the Wheelers were returning to Mombi. Mombi was waiting for them from her balcony.

"Well?" she asked. "Where _are_ they?"

"They went over the desert!" the lead Wheeler shouted. "Heading toward the Nome King's mountain!"

"We have to warn him about the chicken!" Mombi shouted. "Take me to the Nome King, you morons!"

The Wheelers began rolling into a tunnel at the side of the castle. Mombi followed them, and hooked them up to a chariot of sorts. Then, she climbed in, took out a whip, and began striking the Wheelers to get them moving.

"Go!" she yelled. "Get going, you idiots!"

The Wheelers began shrieking like monkeys as they wheeled along the tunnel underneath the desert. This tunnel connected Mombi's castle to the Nome King's throne room.

During this, our heroes sat around the Nome King's throne room, waiting for the Squirrel. As they were waiting, they heard a brief rumble of thunder.

"I wish he'd hurry up in there," Mel said. "It's making me nervous!"

"You know, the Nome King said something about a risk," the Hippo said. "Just what is it we're risking?"

Suddenly there was a gigantic crash of thunder that knocked our heroes right off their feet. There was also a flash of lightning that practically blinded them, as well.

"Oh brother, what was _that_?" Fluey shouted.

"Next!" the Nome King shouted, almost smugly. The hands began opening the tunnel to the ornament room again. Fluey stood up, and looked around.

"Uhhh, where's the Squirrel?" he asked, turning toward the Nome King. He noticed he had become more humanesque once more.

"Oh, he's turned into an ornament," the Nome King said. "You see, he failed to guess correctly, so now he's part of my collection."

"Oh _no_!" Mel and the Hippo shouted in unison.

"I guess that's the risk," Mel said.

"But that's not fair!" Fluey shouted. "You didn't tell us about it!"

"I beg to differ," the Nome King said. "You didn't ask, and you said you were willing to take a risk, after all."

"Holy Mesopotamia . . . ." Fluey groaned. "Look, buster, you should have _told_ us what risk we were taking!"

"Oh really?" the Nome King said. "Perhaps, then, you would rather take a visit to my fiery furnace!"

Suddenly, another door opened, and a giant fire ball shot out of it. It was too big for Fluey to take on, that was for sure. Mel screamed, and jumped backwards.

"Thank you, Mellon Head, for volunteering to be next," the Nome King said.

"_Me_?" Mel shouted, nervously.

"It's okay, Mel," Fluey said. "We'll get out of this yet. Just be careful in there, okay?"

"Well, I'll try."

And with that, Mel walked into the tunnel, and the rock hands closed it behind them.

"Man . . . . I don't know if I can take much more of this," Fluey groaned, holding his hand to his head.

"I don't think Mel's gonna do us any good in there," the Hippo said. "He's not much on thinking."

"Maybe he'll get lucky," Fluey said, shrugging. The minute he said that, a small rumble of thunder was heard.

"Then again, maybe not," Fluey sighed. Then he turned to the Hippo. "Do you need winding?"

"Yeah, my brain could use a little tightening," the Hippo said. Fluey nodded, and started winding the Hippo's brains.

"They should've made you so you could wind yourself up," he said as he turned the key. "Most of the trouble you get into is from winding down."

Another small rumble of thunder was heard. Fluey swallowed, nervously. There was only one more guess left for Mel, and he had a pretty good feeling it was going to be the wrong guess. Moments after the small rumble of thunder, a gigantic crash came, followed by a flash of lightning.

"Next!" the Nome King shouted. "The Army of Paws!"

"Well, here goes nothing," the Hippo said. "Whoooaaa boy . . . . . ."

And with that, the Hippo walked through the tunnel to the ornament room, leaving Fluey alone with the Nome King. Fluey looked over at him, and gasped. He looked even _more_ human than before, and this time, Fluey was able to figure out why he looked so familiar to him. The Nome King looked eerily like Big D. This unnerved Fluey quite a bit.

"Why did you come here, anyway, Fluid Man?" the Nome King asked, lighting a stone pipe.

"I told you why," Fluey said, swallowing nervously. He hoped the Nome King wouldn't noticed he was freaked out, big time here.

"You came all this way just for a bear shaped scarecrow?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Are you sure you didn't come back for something else? Like _these_, perhaps?"

The Nome King then took something out from behind his throne. It was a pair of sparkling blue boots. Fluey recognized them immediately.

"My sapphire boots!" he shouted, running over to grab them.

"No, I'm afraid not," the Nome King said. "They're _my_ boots now. They just . . . . fell out of the sky one day, right over my mountain. I must say, they're _very_ powerful. As a matter of fact, they enabled me to conquer the Amethyst City. If it weren't for you being in such a hurry to get home, you'd never have let them fall off, now would you? Thanks to your . . . . carelessness, let's say, I was able to conquer the Amethyst City. Thank you so much."

Fluey bit his lower lip and looked down. He had no idea when he returned home from Paws, that the boots had fallen off. But it made sense how come he didn't have them when he woke up in Jellystone Park. He couldn't think of what had happened to them. All he remembered was closing his eyes, clicking his heels three times, and chanting "there's no place like home." The next thing he knew, he was back in Jellystone Park.

As Fluey was thinking this over, a Nome appeared in the wall, and whispered something to the Nome King.

"Hmmm . . . . ." he said. "It would appear that your army has stopped guessing and is standing perfectly still in the middle of the room."

"His action must've wound down again," Fluey said. "Guess I should've wound that up a little too along with his brains."

"I see," the Nome King said. "Why don't you go inside and wind him up? Then, once he finishes guessing, you could stay there and guess for yourself."

The rock hands began moving again, opening the tunnel. Fluey stood there for a few moments, thinking. Then, he began walking toward the tunnel, nervously.

"Fluid," the Nome King said. A chill ran down Fluey's spine for a moment. It made him incredibly nervous that the Nome King looked, _and_ sounded exactly like Big D. Nonetheless, Fluey stopped, and turned toward him.

"You don't _have_ to go down there," the Nome King said. "I've given the matter some thought. I could use the sapphire boots, and send you back home. And when you get there, you'll never think of Paws again."

"You're kidding," Fluey said.

"No," The Nome King replied. "I never kid."

"So what about my friends?"

"Forget about them. You can't help them, anyway. It's your choice, Fluid. My ornament collection, or going home. Remember, there's no place like home?"

Fluey stood there for a moment. Then he glared at the Nome King and went down the tunnel. His friends needed him.


	8. Pawsma

Fluey converted into liquid, and streamed down into the ornament room as fast as he could. He stopped, converted back to solid, and looked around. There were hundreds of baubles all over the place.

"Wow," he said. "It's not gonna be easy finding the Scarecrow and the others in _this_!"

Fluey converted again, and streamed over to the Hippo, and began to wind him, when he noticed something.

"Wait a minute," he said. "Hippo, your action's already all wound up! What gives, man?"

"Shhh!" the Hippo hissed. "Pretend you're winding me anyway. I had to get you in here somehow."

"What for?"

"I'm on my last guess, and I'm having trouble guessing. I figured if you could see what I turned into, it would give you an idea of what to look for when you guess."

"Hey, man, great idea!"

The Hippo then walked over to a small table, and looked at the ornaments on it. Then, he turned toward Fluey.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Fluey said. "Go for it."

"Okay," the Hippo said, as he placed his hand on a small goblet. "Paws!"

A crash of thunder was heard, and everything went black. When the thunder cleared, Fluey looked around. The Hippo was gone, and it didn't look like anything in that room had changed.

"Holy Mesopotamia . . . . ." he said, nervously. "Thanks to that blackout, I couldn't have seen what the Hippo turned into! Well . . . . looks like I'll have to go with my instincts on this one. Ooohhh boy . . . ."

Fluey gulped, and began looking around the room. He knew he was the only one left to save them. Paws was riding on him, and he had absolutely no idea where to start looking. He walked toward a small, round silver colored vase, and put his hand on top of it.

"Paws!" he shouted. He heard a small rumble of thunder, much like he had heard when the Squirrel, Mel, and the Hippo made their first two guesses. Fluey gulped again, and kept going.

Fluey stopped at a porcelain bowl next. He took a deep breath, and put his hand on it.

"Paws!" he shouted. Again, a rumble of thunder was heard. Fluey bit his lower lip, nervously.

"Hollerin' hi-fis," he said. "Two down, one to go."

While Fluey was thinking this one over a little more, Mombi had made it to the Nome King's mountain, and raced into the throne room. The Nome King just sat there on his throne, looking more human than ever since the Hippo had used his three guesses incorrectly (and also looking more and more like Big D, which would have given Fluey a heart attack if he were out there instead of in the ornament room).

"Fluid Man has escaped!" Mombi reported.

"I know," the Nome King said, smoking his pipe.

"He stole my ruby key, and my Powder of Life!" Mombi continued. "And several valuable antiques . . . . ."

"I know," the Nome King said again.

"He used them to make a flying sofa of some kind, and he's heading this way!"

"I know. You were _supposed_ to bring him here."

Mombi stopped all of a sudden, and stared at the Nome King, surprised.

"He's already here," the Nome King continued. "But he won't be here for much longer."

Mombi just nodded absently, and sat down on the floor.

"But why didn't you transform them all right away?" she asked.

"It's more fun this way," The Nome King said, with a laugh.

"But what if he guesses correctly in there?" Mombi asked. "And what if he finds out about Pawsma?"

"Pawsma?" the Nome King asked. Then he stood up, and glared at the witch. "You haven't let _her_ escape either, have you?"

"No, no," Mombi said, nervously. "No sir. No, not at all, sir."

"Good," the Nome King said, sitting back down. "Then there's nothing to worry about. Soon, there will be no one left who remembers Paws, and then I'll be completely human!"

As Mombi and the Nome King laughed over the Nome King's upcoming victory, Fluey continued to gaze around the ornament room. This was his last chance. He had no idea what to look for, and he didn't want to take a chance guessing incorrectly. Finally, he closed his eyes, and started spinning around. Then, he held his arms out, and began walking, all with his eyes closed. This method was derived from a game he used to play when he lived at the orphanage in Megatropolis. The object of the game was simple. Whoever was "it" had to close his or her eyes and spin around three times. The other kids would run away from whoever was "it," and whoever was "it" had to try to find the others in a certain amount of time. Whoever was tagged became "it" next.

Fluey walked forward, holding his arms straight in front of him. He bumped into a table along the way, but that was pretty much expected. He decided to grab the first object he came across, which was a little statuette of a man on a horse. He was just about to say the magic words, when he opened his eyes, and noticed a purple gem laying on the table. Acting on a hunch, Fluey abandoned the statuette, and put his hands on the purple gem instead.

"Paws!" he shouted. In a flash of purple light, the gem turned into none other than his old pal, the Scarecrow.

"Hiya, Fluey, ol' buddy ol' pal," the Scarecrow said.

"Yeah, man!" Fluey shouted. "I _knew_ it! Boy, am I glad to see you!"

"Yeah, me too," the Scarecrow said.

"Listen, Scarecrow, you were a purple ornament," Fluey said. "And I bet the others are purple ornaments, too. You have to help me find them!"

"Not a problem," the Scarecrow said. "We'll find them in no time with my help. After all, I'm smarter than the average scarecrow. Hey, hey, heee!"

The two of them began searching the entire ornament room frantically, looking for purple objects. The Scarecrow saw one, and ran over to Fluey.

"Here's an ornament that's purple," he said. "So . . . . uhhh . . . . uhhh . . . . uhhh, what rhymes with purple?"

"Forget it," Fluey said. He put his hand on the ornament and closed his eyes. "Paws!"

Another flash of purple light appeared, and the ornament was transformed back into the stuffed Squirrel. Fluey smiled. He knew he was definitely on the right track.

However, the Nome King wasn't too happy about this. The minute Fluey had turned the Scarecrow back into a scarecrow, the Nome King began turning back into his rock form. And he reverted to his rock form even more when Fluey found the Squirrel. He was not at all happy with this turn of events. He turned toward Mombi and glared.

"You let him escape!" he shouted. "You had him . . . . . and you _let him escape!_"

"It wasn't my fault . . . ." Mombi said, feebly. "I tell you, it wasn't my fault!"

"SILENCE!" the Nome King bellowed. "I'll deal with you _later_!"

Mombi tried to beat a hasty retreat, but she found herself suddenly trapped in a cage, materialized by the Nome King. Then he disappeared into the wall.

Back in the ornament room, Fluey, the Scarecrow, and the Squirrel continued searching the room. They still had the Hippo, Mel, and Henrietta to find. Suddenly, the room began shaking violently.

"Heeeyyy . . . . ." the Scarecrow said, nervously. "What's with all the shakin' and quakin'?"

"Maybe it's an earthquake!" the Squirrel shouted.

"I don't know, but I don't like the looks of it!" Fluey shouted nervously, as he watched columns and tumble over, causing several ornaments to fall, and break upon hitting the floor.

The walls and the floor suddenly began to crack, and there was a red glow covering everything. Both the Squirrel and the Scarecrow latched onto to Fluey out of sheer nervousness.

"Look out!" Fluey shouted, as pieces of the ceiling began falling. He went into a complete fluid conversion, and carried his friends over to another corner of the room.

"That was close," he said, converting back to solid.

During the shaking, the Scarecrow noticed a purple vase on a pedestal, about to fall over. He raced over and slid toward it, like a baseball player sliding into home plate. The vase fell, but luckily it landed right onto the Scarecrow's stomach, which, thankfully, softened the landing. Then he ran back to the others with it, just as something was rising from the floor. It looked like a rock creature. Fluey knew right away it was the Nome King.

"STOP!" he bellowed.

Fluey ignored the giant rock creature and ran to the Scarecrow and the vase. He immediately touched it, and closed his eyes.

"Paws!" he shouted. In a flash of purple light, the vase transformed into none other then Mel, the Mellon-Headed Squid.

"Who-what-when-where-why?" he asked, dazedly. "Also how?"

"_STOOOOOOOP_!" the Nome King screeched.

"But we're not done yet," Fluey said. "You said if we guessed correctly . . . . ."

"SILENCE!" the Nome King bellowed. "I'm tired of this nonsense! I'm going to deal with all of you accordingly!"

And with that, the Nome King grabbed the Squirrel by the tail and started pulling him toward him. Fluey, the Scarecrow, and Mel grabbed the Squirrel by the arms and tried pulling him back, in somewhat of a tug of war. They managed to get the Squirrel out of the Nome King's grip, but the Nome King tried again, this time, grabbing onto the back of the Squirrel's coat. The tug of war was on, again. Finally, with one good yank, our heroes managed to pull the Squirrel away again, except the Nome King managed to tear off his coat, and his hat. Then, the rock monster swallowed them, laughing maniacally.

"Next!" he shouted. "Mellon Head!"

"Run for it!" Fluey shouted. He picked up the dazed Squirrel, went into a partial liquid conversion, and took off like a shot with the Scarecrow and Mel behind him.

"Stop them!" the Nome King ordered. "Don't let them get away!"

With that command, several nomes appeared out of the walls, and blocked our heroes every turn. They couldn't go anywhere without these rock creatures grabbing at them. The Nome King was cackling madly, and he saw his chance. He reached down, and grabbed Mel by the ankles (all six of them), and pulled him up toward his mouth. Mel, dangling from the Nome King's fingers, was screaming like crazy, writhing around trying to get free. Fluey put the Squirrel down, shot himself upward toward the Nome King, fist outstretched.

"Rally ho ho!" he called out, as he aimed for the Nome King's face. Unfortunately, this didn't go as planned.

"You little _pest_!" the Nome King shouted, and he swatted Fluey with his other hand, and our dark-haired hero sailed right smack into the wall.

CRASH!

"Ooooh, anybody get the license number of that truck?" he asked, dazedly. He shook his head out to regain his composure, but he was too dazed to try that again. The Nome King merely laughed.

"I'll deal with you, Fluid Man," he said, "as soon as I finish with Mellon Head!"

"Yi-yi-yi-_yiiiiiiikes_!" Mel screamed.

"No!" Fluey screamed.

The Nome King was about to swallow Mel, when suddenly, something started squawking from inside his head.

_Bwaaaack-buck-buck-buck-buck-AWWWK!_

The Nome King suddenly stopped what he was doing, and, as Mel's hat fell off, and Henrietta poked her head out, and then, out came a single, white egg. It fell out of the hole in Mel's head, where Henrietta had been hiding, and into the Nome King's open mouth. The Nome King suddenly closed his mouth, and his nomes all gasped in horror.

"Poison!" they all shouted as they retreated into the walls. "Poison!"

"Poison?" Fluey repeated, confused.

The Nome King then slowly put Mel and Henrietta down, and Fluey, the Scarecrow, and the Squirrel ran over to them.

"Hmph," Henrietta clucked. "So I laid an egg."

The group then looked up at the Nome King, and they noticed he was slowly deteriorating. He was literally falling apart.

"Don't . . . . . you . . . . . know . . . . ." he said, as he disintegrated. "Eggs . . . . . are . . . . . poisonous . . . . . to . . . . . nomes?"

"That explains his beef about chickens," Fluey said.

And with that, the Nome King completely went to pieces, crumbling to nothing but a pile of rubble. Fluey just stood there in shock. He really didn't know _what_ to make of what just happened. As he stood there with his mouth hanging open slightly, something flashed in his eye. A blue sparkle. Getting his wits back, Fluey ran over to the pile of rubble, and dug out the sapphire boots the Sorcerer of the South had given him on his first trip to Paws. Suddenly, something began rumbling above our heroes. They looked up, and noticed the ceiling was beginning to crack.

"Cave in!" the Squirrel shouted.

"How do we get out of here?" Mel asked.

"I've got an idea!" Fluey shouted. He put the boots down on the floor, converted to liquid, and splashed right into the boots. He was wearing them when he converted back into solid. It was the only way he could get them on. He'd never be able to fit them over his swim fins.

"Boots, don't fail me now!" he shouted. "I wish for all of us from Paws to return there safely, and for the Amethyst City and everyone in it to be restored to the way they were when I was there the first time!"

Fluey clicked his heels three times, and squeezed his eyes shut, biting his lower lip, hoping this would work. Suddenly, in a flash of blue and purple lights, our heroes suddenly found themselves in a field. The same field that was at the end of the ruins of the Yellow Brick Road, only the road was no longer in ruins.

"I'll say this," the Squirrel said. "This life sure is weirder than my last one!"

Before anyone could respond, there was another flash of light, and Mombi suddenly appeared in the field, but she was still in the cage the Nome King had put her in. Fluey looked toward the Amethyst City, and saw flashes of blue and purple lights all over the place. The citizens were turning back to their normal selves. The circle of dancing girls in the courtyard got their heads back once the spell was broken. Once the Tin Hound and the Cowardly Lion were back to normal, they looked at each other, oddly.

"What's going on? _What's_ going _on_?" the Lion asked, looking around.

"Search me," the Tin Hound said, shrugging.

The other citizens of the Amethyst City were also confused as well. Nobody knew what had happened. Back in the field, Fluey smiled, as he saw the Amethyst City palace glowing in purple light. Then, he remembered something.

"Holy Mesopotamia!" he shouted. "The Wind Up Hippo! Where's the Hippo?"

"We never found him," the Scarecrow said. "We didn't get a chance too."

"Oh no," Mel said, dejectedly.

"Wait a minute," Henrietta clucked. "Look here on the Squirrel's tail! Where'd that medal come from?"

"Beats me," the Squirrel said, shrugging, pulling his tail over so he could see the medal. "Maybe it came from the ornament collection."

"You guys don't think . . . . ." Fluey started.

"Why not?" the Scarecrow said, shrugging. "After all, it's purple. Try the magic word on it, Fluey."

"Okay," Fluey said. He took the medal from the Squirrel's tail, and closed his eyes. "Paws!"

In a flash of purple light, the Wind Up Hippo suddenly appeared before our heroes.

"Wow," he said. "I must've completely run down. I don't even remember leaving the Nome King's mountain!"

Fluey just laughed, and led his friends toward the Amethyst City. They were greeted by several loud cheers. With the Wind Up Hippo polished up, the citizens threw a parade on the spot for them. Several citizens were throwing confetti and streamers. One of the Paws guards (who looked like Doggie Daddy) was carrying Henrietta on a purple satin pillow. Four others (who resembled Quick Draw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla, Mr. Jinks, and Wally Gator) were carrying the cage Mombi was inside, until they reached the mirrored palace that once belonged to Mombi.

"Well, you've done it again, Fluey," the Scarecrow said. "You've defeated an evil wizard who was gonna control all of Paws."

"Shuckens, you oughta stay here and be the king of Paws," the Tin Hound suggested.

"Heavens to Mergatroid!" the Cowardly Lion shouted. "That's it! That's _it_! Long live his royal majesty! King Fluey of Paws! All hail the king! All rain the king, even!"

All the citizens began cheering again, urging Fluey to accept the offer.

"I really appreciate the offer, everybody," Fluey said. "And I really _would_ like to stay . . . . . but I've got to go back. I mean, I can't be in two places at once. I wish I could, but . . . . ."

Before Fluey could finish, Henrietta began clucking.

"Behind you in the mirror, Fluey!" she shouted.

Fluey turned around and looked toward the mirror. Instead of his own reflection, he saw none other than his own half-sister, Phyllis, or at least who he _thought_ was his sister. She was wearing a long purple and white gown. She also had some kind of gold headband around her head, with a purple paw print at the front of it and purple jeweled flowers on either side of her head. Fluey walked toward the mirror.

"Phyllis?" he asked.

"Help me step through the glass, Fluey," Phyllis said. "And I'll explain."

Fluey placed his hands on the mirror against the glass, as did Phyllis on her side of the mirror. Then, she gripped his hands, and Fluey began backing up, allowing Phyllis to come through the mirror. Fluey stared at her as she came out, and she held his hands for a moment. Fluey suddenly pulled away, realizing something.

"You . . . . you're not my sister, are you?" he said. "You look just like her . . . . . and I thought you _were_ her . . . . . but you're not. Who are you?"

"Pawsma," the Phyllis-look-alike said.

"Mom!" Mel shouted, suddenly. "That's my mom! She's the one who built me!"

"She is the rightful ruler of Paws!" a voice called out. Fluey turned to look and saw the voice had come from a citizen of Paws that bore a striking resemblance to Multi.

"Her father was the king of Paws before the Wizard came," he said. "Pawsma grew up as Mombi's slave."

"Then, when the Nome King promised her thirty beautiful heads to keep Pawsma a secret," another citizen (who looked like Coiley) said, "Mombi enchanted her into the mirror."

"I forgive Mombi," Pawsma said. "Fluey as punished her by taking away her power. And a witch with no power is a miserable creature indeed."

"And that's a fact," Mombi said, glowering at Fluey.

"Then it _wasn't_ Phyllis who rescued me from the clinic," Fluey went on, ignoring Mombi's glare. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Pawsma said. "I was able to escape the mirror into your world, Fluey. But I couldn't escape the mirror into Paws until the Nome King was defeated. Thank you."

Pawsma leaned over and gave Fluey a kiss on the cheek. Fluey then converted into liquid, and streamed out of the sapphire boots. He picked them up, and handed them to Pawsma.

"I guess these are yours, then," he said. "Sorry if they're a little soggy, but it was the only way I could get into them."

"It's all right," Pawsma said. "They'll dry out eventually. Now then, I'll send you back home. But just remember, Fluey, you hold the key to return to Paws, should you wish to return."

"What do you mean?" Fluey asked.

Pawsma just smiled, and clicked the heels of the boots together. A bright light appeared in the mirror all of a sudden. Fluey walked toward it, but before he stepped through, he turned to his friends.

"Goodbye, everybody!" he called.

Everyone began calling out their goodbyes. Fluey gave them all a final wave, took a deep breath, and stepped through the mirror, only to be faced with a bright light, nearly blinding him. Fluey let out a scream, and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the light. Then, suddenly, everything went black.


	9. Return Home

The next thing Fluey knew, he was laying on the ground, which was damp and muddy, and he was soaking wet, and freezing, and his powers had somehow been deactivated. There was a little mud on his face, and in his hair, which was disheveled, and mud stains on his clothes. Fluey just lay there for awhile, feeling completely drained. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a yipping puppy in the distance, and he sat up. He recognized that yip.

"Skittles?" he asked, wondering if he was hearing things. The yipping grew louder, and Fluey knew for sure it was the little super puppy.

"Skittles!" he called out at the top of his voice. "Come here, girl! Come on, Skittles! Over here!"

All of a sudden, Fluey saw a flash of lighting coming at him, and something slammed into him, knocking him backwards into the mud, and he was barraged with puppy kisses.

"Okay, okay, easy girl!" he shouted, trying to pull Skittles off of him.

"Over here, Coiley!" he heard Multi shout. "I think I heard Fluey call Skittles!"

"There they are!" Coiley shouted, as he and Multi ran into view. "Fluey, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Fluey said, though he was a little disoriented.

"Over here, chief!" Multi called. "Skittles found him!"

Moments later, Big D came running to the scene, looking a little disheveled himself, like he was ready to have a heart attack. He immediately raced over to his grandson, grabbed him, and held him close.

"Thank goodness you're all right," he said. "I was about to give up all hope."

Fluey was a little reluctant for a moment, thinking back to the Nome King, then Big D began stroking the back of his hair. Fluey heaved a sigh of relief, and wrapped his arms around his grandfather's chest. Moments later, Phyllis came running in, carrying a blanket with her.

"Fluey!" she shouted. "Thank heavens, I was worried sick about you!"

Big D let go of Fluey, for the moment, and the minute he did, Phyllis grabbed him, and hugged him tightly. Fluey almost mistook her for Pawsma at first, but he knew it was Phyllis the minute she hugged him. Once she let go, she wrapped the blanket around Fluey, and Big D lifted him into his arms.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get you home."

"Sounds good to me," Fluey said, a little tiredly.

"I could just kick myself for this," Big D said. "I _never_ should have taken you to that clinic in the first place. Your sister was right. Lack of sleep _had_ impaired my judgement. I'm just glad we weren't too late. Thank goodness that lightning storm knocked out the power, or else you would have wound up like all the others. Or worse!"

"Others?" Fluey asked.

"That screaming you heard," Big D said. "They were patients that had been damaged by Dr. Lorry's so called therapy."

"Yeah, we found out their brains were practically burnt to a crisp," Coiley said.

"While she got me out of the room, she turned up the power on the machine," Big D said, slightly increasing his hold on his grandson. "When I think of how close I came to _killing _my own grandson . . . . . I just can't be_lieve_ I had fallen for such a trick!"

"What do you mean, chief?" Fluey asked.

"Dr. Lorry's father was a former agent," Big D continued. "I had to fire him because his experiments on electroshock therapy were getting out of hand. This was Dr. Lorry's way of getting back at me. She knew _exactly_ who I was the minute I made the appointment over the phone with her. She put her machine on full power, and she knew such a large dose would electrocute you. That's why she wanted me to pull the switch on her machine. One of her orderlies was standing by with a camera, ready to snap a photograph of me flipping the switch. Then she would take the photograph to the authorities, and I would have wound up being sent to jail. After the power went out, both you and I heard that screaming, and as you know, I went to investigate it. That's when I discovered her damaged patients. And Dr. Lorry discovered _me_. She hit me over the head and knocked me unconscious. I came to my senses shortly after the storm subsided, and Dr. Lorry returned to the clinic. I found out you had escaped, Fluid, and Dr. Lorry wound up confessing her plot."

"Then the chief called me, Coiley, and Phyllis," Multi said. "He told us you escaped from the clinic, and were swept up into the flood waters without your transformer. We called the police and Dr. Lorry arrested her and her orderlies on the spot after they found her patients."

"We spent nearly all night looking for you," Coiley said. "We're glad we found you in one piece, Fluey."

"Yeah, me too," Fluey said, thinking about Mombi's hall of heads. "I'm really glad to _be_ in one piece."

Fluey ended up falling asleep on the ride back home. Big D and Phyllis immediately took him upstairs, and put him to bed. He woke up a few moments afterward.

"Home already?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"Yes," Big D replied. "Looks like you're cured of that insomnia of yours."

"Yeah . . . ." Fluey said. "Maybe when Pawsma sent me back, she magically cured my insomnia and . . . . ."

"Who?" Big D asked, giving Fluey a weird look.

"Oh . . . . uhhh . . . ." Fluey said, thinking about this. He knew Big D wouldn't believe it. "Nothing, chief. I just . . . . had another dream. I went back to Paws in this one."

Fluey then told the chief the details about his return trip. Big D merely shook his head when he was through.

"You certainly have a vivid imagination, Fluid," he said. "In any case, I think you should go back to sleep for awhile. You need to catch up on some much needed rest."

"Okay, chief," Fluey said.

And with that, Big D left the room, just as Phyllis walked in, carrying a laundry basket.

"Hi," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy," Fluey said, yawning. "You don't have to do my laundry, sis, I'll do it myself later."

"I know, but I want to get these mud stains out," Phyllis said. "Otherwise, they'll set, and we'll never be able to get them out, even with triple strength detergent. I have to tell you, that Dr. Lorry must have been some kind of a nut. It makes me wonder how long she managed to stay in business what with all those patients she had locked in the basement . . . . . ."

Phyllis continued on about Dr. Lorry, but Fluey wasn't paying any attention to her. He was staring at his sister's reflection in his mirror. Only it wasn't Phyllis's reflection he was seeing. It was Pawsma's. Pawsma smiled, waved at Fluey, and put her finger to her lips, signaling Fluey not to say anything about this. Fluey waved back, and nodded.

"But at least she's in jail and you're all right," Phyllis said, standing up. The minute she did, Pawsma vanished.

"Yeah, all's well that ends well," Fluey said, even though he didn't hear much of what Phyllis had said. "Night, sis."

"Good night," Phyllis said. She bent down, kissed her brother on the forehead, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Phyllis went down to the laundry room, and started up the washing machine. She was sorting through Fluey's clothes (she figured she'd do the whole thing, anyway) when Big D came by.

"I hope you're checking to make sure he didn't accidentally leave anything in his pockets again," he said.

"I am," Phyllis said. "After he nearly destroyed his transformer by sending it through the spin cycle once because he forgot to take it out . . . . . and wouldn't you know it, he did it again. But it's not his transformer this time."

"Let me see."

Phyllis handed Big D the object, and he looked at it intently. It was a red key. Big D remembered Fluey mentioned something about a ruby key in the dream he told him about.

"Strange," he said. "Fluid mentioned a key like this in the dream he had . . . . . you don't suppose . . . . ."

"What, chief?" Phyllis asked.

Without answering, Big D left the laundry room, went upstairs, and opened the door to Fluey's bedroom. He was about to ask about the key, but decided not to, since Fluey was sound asleep. Instead, Big D put the key on Fluey's night table, and left the room.

"Maybe there _is _something about this land of Paws after all," he said.

The End


End file.
